Five more minutes
by WhiskyFalls
Summary: The battle friendly Anchorage vet emerges, but not entirely alone. With all he knew gone or stolen he must adapt to the new world, though its not all that foreign to him.
1. Chapter 1

_I do not own Fallout 4, fallout 3, any of these characters or those mentioned._

 ** _Memory's of a Memory_**

* * *

"Nora, shut the window." He mumbled, it must have been left open a while ago, it was freezing, he thought in his sleepy mess of a mind. Or it had just slipped down again. Nora's apartment, while the closest thing to a stateside home as he had, was a shit hole, and the only thing his girlfriend could afford with collage fees to pay.

No response came, she didn't even stir and he felt a spike of annoyance at that. The windows where on her side of the bed, within arms reach she wouldn't even need to leave the covers to close the damn thing. But he subdued those feelings just as fast as they had come, getting mad was pointless and he was sure she was more tired than him, so he braced himself for the cold that waited and sat up. But something hindered him in the effort

His body was stiff, painfully so, only in trying to move did he find how cold he had really been. He opened his eyes but was still blind, it wasn't enough that he couldn't see, he could sense something was wrong.

With a stiff arm he reached out for Nora, a loose mass pushing back the whole way the same as it did when he sat up. He couldn't find her. Fear started to set in, Something was covering his face It was just getting colder it hurt it was so cold and the dull headache his awoke this was roaring, Where was he what was going on?

Fear turned to panic as his discipline broke, flailing about reaching for something, anything to help him find a place while, simultaneously, clawing away trying to clear his eyes. All his searching arm found was more all encasing matter, loose as it was with every swipe of his arm it felt like he was sinking further into quicksand. At last he got a grip on the obstacle covering his face and slightly brushing his chin, finding his hand gloved.

Pulling firmly the fabric slid away and he was assaulted with a drastic change in color.

All the pieces fell into place as he gazed into the pure white void that laid before him. He wasn't home, he wasn't with Nora in her bed, he was in Anchorage... The cold went back to numbness and the fear abruptly stopped. Now he was just back at work and made it brisk as always.

Pulling his head to his knees he got the snow to his back and pushed out. Slowly he weaseled his way up until he was free and beheld the empty snow field.

Tracing his discomfort to the sight, he recalled the order of the day. They had been charging the Refinery... so where had everybody gone?

His head was foggy, slow, he hated it because he knew he was missing something that, normally, would only take home seconds to see. So he went slow, worked his way through it.

Why did his head hurt... He must have been incapacitated by something, which would also explain where the army had gone, they moved on without him. So what had done it? Looking around he found a simple answer, a large Chinese shell hold was a few feet away half buried with snow. The powder or people must have caught the shrapnel, taking it all so the blast didn't kill him, just sending him flying and unconscious.

But if the blast was on his right side, so was his squad... SO WAS BENJAMIN.

Now frantic he scrambled through the sea of snow looking for his companion, he was right next to him on the right along with a infantry squad. Spinning, dizzy, looking for anything and clue, where where the bodies. Answers came as he noticed the snow angel breaches on the surface they sank like him, so he started digging as fast as he could. Shoveling it away with his hands, little by little.

Five feet down he found a young man, dead on impact, he had never stopped to get to know him, something told him that he wouldn't need to and it seemed he was right. Pulling the tags he moved on to the next hole.

Another dead soldier, this time a woman who he had never seen before, on to the next. He did it a dozen or so more times. How long it took he didn't know, he couldn't use the sun to tell time in Alaska but he was tiring, though unwilling to give up, he would go until he found Benjamin... Dead or Alive he wouldn't leave him here.

A few more greens and too boys barely eighteen who he had spoken to the previous night. They where from the Gulf Commonwealth and hated the snow, it hurt to know they had to be buried in it. Nobody would find these bodies for months until the snow was melted enough to reveal the battlefield that had sunk beneath the loose, snowy waves.

Every body he finished digging up would lead to three more, and he dug them up too, he couldn't leave anybody. But after all that time it payed off, he found a man, Captain in rank, alive and only slightly injured. His dark black beard was singed at the ends along with his face, only slightly, but even so it raised his spirits to see someone alive.

Pulling him out was near impossible. When he tried to lift he would only sink deeper, his snow shoes only being able to keep so much weight above the tide. The fresh powder they received the night before made this feat even harder, and it only kept snowing.

Once back on top he noticed how pale the Captain was, deathly so but Nate knew what to do. Quickly he dug through the mans day pack until he found the emergency blanket and wrapped him as best he could in the foil. Once they where rescued the medics could work on really reheating him but it was the best he could do out there. So he got back to work.

After four more holes he found a medic who was breathing but burned and had a nasty bit of metal sticking out of his leg... Nate knew he would loose it in the surgery but at lease he was alive.

He followed the same procedure and wrapped the wound with the supplies in the mans bag, feeling a little better knowing he would live. But even with those two save he feared he would never find Montgomery, and now he was out of happy holes. All that where left where the crimson coated ones near the center of the blast, the odds weren't great over there.

These weren't like the others that went straight down, deep into the snow. They were shallow and dragged away like something was tossed horizontal to the earth like a rag doll, digging deep to the left and right. But to his amazement, and saying fuck you to the odds, inside the first one he searched he found Benjamin.

He was bleeding and near dead, it seemed he had taken the shrapnel the Reds where so fond of stuffing their shells with, soaked it all up like a sponge. Limp and pale as as a ghost Nate felt himself start to shake, he couldn't help it whether it was the cold or fear.

But fear wouldn't help him or Ben.

Steeling himself he climbed in examined him, paying no mind to the blood soaking his gloves he pulled them off with his teeth and checked a pulse. Faint but there. He let the breath he was holding go, he was alive, and started working on freeing him, receiving a pained groan for his efforts, He only worked harder.

Once out he grabbed the Medics bag off his back and dug out the StimPaks inside. They where supposed to be deluded and rationed, something about consuming energy but he hardly give a damn now, injecting all three into his friends wounds directly and praying they would help him last long enough.

"Great...Now what." He whispered. He hadn't thought this far ahead in his panic for Ben.

Looking around he remembered they where practically stranded. The camps where seven miles back and the Refinery was another four ahead. But it seemed god heard him a lot more than usual that day because, off in the distance, he spotted a convoy on a road he didn't remember being there.

Regardless of that he dug through all the bags of the dead for a flare, throwing most everything else into the snow with no intention to put it back. "Uncle Sam can survive some missing gear." He mumbled knowing had anybody else been there he would have been reprimanded for dropping gear in the snow.

At last he found a single rescue flare, things seemed to be getting better, it was a good day disregarding the shell. And they stopped, even better, another prayer answered.

So he sat on his hands as a few small figured ran towards him, slowly.

He got a few more blankets from the bodies packs and wrapped Ben better and checked the other two in the eternity it took for the scouts to traverse the snow. He climbed into more of the crimson holes, all where dead but he had to check, it seemed Ben was the closest one could have been without dying.

But at long last they arrived with a Med Sled in tow and gave a crisp salute upon seeing him, hardly the time or place he thought.

"SIR," One snapped before rushing to check the bodies Nate had pulled up. "Thank god, The Triage teams where getting depressed, we thought nobody who didn't walk themselves to forward was out here."

"Who's hurt?" The second said prepping the sled.

"One unconscious, two wounded." He replied helping the first medic get Ben onto it. "Get the Gunnery Sargent out of here fast" He shouted.

"We can only fit two." Replied the first again. He didn't mean too, but Nate found himself throwing a foul glare his way.

"You can walk along side me while Reg stays with him," Said the second, pointing to the unconscious captain but looking Nate up and down. She noticed he was looking at her and snapped back to his eyes. "Maybe you should let me get you some Med-X sir, I'm not to sure how your standing right now with your leg like that..." Worry and maybe awe in her voice.

Doing a quick once over he found what she meant, At some point in the charge a laser rifle had burned through his snow pants and missed his leg plate burning him deep, but cauterizing the wound. He also had a large amount of, now frozen, blood on his coat from Benjamin, probably not putting her at ease either.

"Alright." He replied kneeling at Ben's side so the sort medic could inject him. "Don't worry buddy, their gonna fix you up." He whispered gabbing his hand.

"Jesus, don't get sappy on me now, we got a war to win." Croaked the now awake Gunnery Sargent in a strained voice. "What, thought I wasn't awake... I just wanted to see if you could pull my fat ass outta the snow on your own." He joked in Nate's awe and slight anger.

But before Nate could retort Benjamin stated a coughing fit. Blood speckling the snow beside him and the movement from it making him cry out in pain of the shrapnel shifting inside him. The medic was now done with Nate and moved to get another syringe ready for Ben, the kind that put you under, and he knew it.

"If we both make it through this... Can I meet this girl you keep dreaming about back home, Nancy no... Nora that was it." He teased with his last few moments of consciousness.

"Course you will. I'm sure she will love you, jackass"

"Careful, she might just leave you for me. You know I'm the handsome one." Replied Montgomery.

"Put him under"

The Medic nodded and injected him with a generous amount of morphine causing him to fallback into a peaceful state. "We have a Mobile at the cars, I'll send it back to camp with these two then come back for you, I can also take those as well." She breathed reaching for the mess of tags he had collected, some seventeen.

"No need, We'll walk." With a heavy hand he passed them to her and she was off for the Convoy. He knew Ben would be fine, more angry about missing the Refinery than anything.

He washed his hands of his fears and turned to address the man behind him. "You ready to get movi-" cutting himself off, finding he made a stretcher while they where speaking.

"Yes Sir."

So they trudged through the snow slowly towards the Convoy, stepped over bodies as they came. Silently he did the number with an average of he found on the walk them spread that to the whole field.

Less men died than the pre-brief had projected, though that wasn't saying much. Roughly one Fourth of their original force was now casualties not adding the robots, only assaultrons where able to be deployed because of the powder. Had they been able to bring Sentries, Tanks, and Power Armor they would have been far better off.

"Holy Shit Sarge found Roger!" Screamed one of the men, clearly elated to see the unconscious captain as they approached. "MAXSON MADE IT!" He jeered

Everybody rushed to the side of the stretcher to make sure it was him, evidently he was well known.

"Thank god," Said one giving Nate a pat on the back. "He just got a Promotion Sir, He got to go home, moved state side to a base with his wife over some base in California." One explained as they loaded him onto the Snow mobile that was going back to base, another man cut in before he could continue.

"But he chose to stay. He wanted to see it through, like you and Montgomery," Many of the soldiers had a strong sense of loyalty to them... He hated it. Nate would rather have had this man go home to his wife than him follow along some crusade out of some duty. "Delta said they would keep him safe but they got wiped out and we thought he was MIA, Sir. You did good saving him..." He he beamed.

MIA was as good as dead, so he was happy he could help bring this man home,. Had he not even tried that woman would have lost her husband. And not many men got a chance to go home, it was a fairy tale in the making and it looked like everybody had been rooting for him to survive. Nate hoped he would get a chance to live happily.

"No men left behind, remember." He said, effectively sending them back to there stations.

The mobile drove off slowly towards the encampment and Nate went off to find the CO of the caravan to see if he could bum a ride to the front before Chase put a death order out on him for being late. At last he found him, and it was a friend of his, a pleasant surprise.

"Sargent Howard, damn we just got reports from the line that your ass was MIA. Glad to see not even Jingwei can kill you." Yelled Richard Clement in his southern accent through his thick, dusty blond mustache. Apparently he was the the ring leader of the convoy.

"Didn't Chase tell you to shave that shit off your face Rich?" Nate replied with a sly look.

"I figures I would if we survive, that or I'd die looking Fine. Speaking about surviving, how the fuck are you alive?" He said gaining a laugh from Nate and his subordinates.

"I need a ride to the front if you could oblige?" Said Nate ignoring the comment and question.

"No S-Ir, you got to walk juss like the rest of E'm, the ATV's is for the Bots and Armor" He said pointing to the Sentry Bot in the back a the vehicle and Pover Armor in a truck.

"Damn Things were made for solid ground, Not this snowy Bullshit." Bitched one of the men.

"And the snow rider is gone With your friends" Said Rich pointing towards the medics and Monty driving away from the front.

"Alright... Keep me company? I might get scared" He joked trying to show off for the troops, he got some laughs.

As they walked Nate looked at the soldiers, they all looked stressed, the joy of seeing Maxson had worn off fast. It looked like they where fresh from boot camp and didn't know what they where walking towards, the anticipation eating away at them.

He supposed that Washington would think it was a good idea to send fresh troops rather than the seasoned men they needed, typical. Most where basic riflemen, though there where some flamers in the mix and two specialty snipers carrying Gauss Rifle, the newest toys straight out of RnD.

"You girls know how to use those?" He Implored, simple to make conversation. The two women glanced at each other and he only then realized that the question could habe been taken as an insult rather than a genuine question. The younger one spoke first.

"Yes sir, we where trained for 3 months on these rifles alone." She said getting a brief nod from Nate.

"Mind if I hold it?" He then asked, a childish grin creeping onto his face.

"These guns cost more to make than it does to pay your salary for the next forty years, so no you can't _hold_ it." The other women stated matter of factually.

After that he shut up, they clearly didn't like him/ So he moved on to the general troops, a lot less uptight. And they had fun telling stories while Nate listened along. But dread soon silenced them as they approached the front lines, the gun fire echoed and explosions carried through the air until finally it was within view.

The front was massive to say the least, showing home much work it really took to crack a nut like the refinery base, some . Quick trenches had been dug in with ice and snow barricades covering some of the forward men and a a thousand yards from there the tents of the forward camp where pitched and blowing in the arctic breeze.

They where to the left of the field and would wing down into camp, providing a perfect view for the men to behold the battle. Slow as it was bodies still littered the no-mans land in front of the compound. He was used to it, the inexperienced troops though... They where shaking in there boots like autumn leafs.

Lasers and bullets and all in between where flying over head and past them while screams and wails flowed off the no mans land like a twisted chorus and with every step the others turned paler until one finally had to ask him.

"Sir? How are you not scared right now?" He pleaded as they marched down into camp, seeing the triage tent and the pile of bodies beside it.

"I am, I just don't wear it on my sleeve like a bitch. You'll learn one day." He replied sending the boys mood spiraling, but it had to be said.

"Whats the situation" Richard asked a man running orders.

"The Situation is we thought HE was dead," He said pointing to Nate. "The men can't get a foothold, ammo is running low and we've lost thirty Percent."

"Nate, To the General now" Ordered Rich.

"Always happy to help. You Two follow me," He said to the Gauss Snipers. "If you got a rifle in your hands your no good right now so lay down some suppressing fire or go fuck yourself. Flamers, you can't do shit right now so stay on the edge of the trench and wait for the breach." He ordered Marching into the aft trenches.

They passed a line of Mortars, then the machine guns that where running red hot by now, the men stopped periodically to lay the gun in the snow to cool them. He disowned his blooded winterized coat on the way there leaving his chest plate and under shirt exposed as they marched to Forward Command.

After a few moments of examining the sorry state of affairs they where there and it was not good. Men and woman were yelling and running around, Chase was sitting at a desk looking angry enough to rip the gate to the refinery down barehanded and nobody had brewed any coffee which was the one thing he needed right now.

"SIR, Nate Howard reporting for duty" He called out Pulling Chase from his Brooding.

General Constantine Chase, Four star general of the United states Army was many things: tough, gruff, unmovable, paranoid, possibly unstable, the word insane was even used but he was no coward, him being on the front was not even a question. A stern face with a sharp jawline and wintry hair on top with a proud smile was what awaited you in victory, and cold steel grey eyes filled anger and a punishment at hand in defeat.

"Your late Howard, the teams couldn't find you OR Montgomery, kept saying a Red sniper got you or something like that!" He yelled so loud everybody in the tent stopped to watch. " I gave you Six hours to get you ass here or a court-marshal for desertion... Forty Minutes minutes to spare." He said glancing at his pocket watch with a smile and continuing.

"Now I don't care that you look like you lost a fight with a cave bear, I gave myself twelve hours to try and end this.. I couldn't. So I'm giving you full discretion on how you want to do it I just want this game over NOW. You work Jingwei like a play thing, you can get past this just like all the others, So... Get Out of This Tent AND GET THOSE DOG EATERS." Everyone in the tent jumped back to work.

Nate nodded and started to leave with the two snipers in tow. But was stopped by Chase once more.

"And Howard...I just got word from the southern front, They got Xenwan and he's singing like a bird. We wont be needing Jingwie anymore.. So put that chink on ice before he can make my day any worse." Nate nodded and left.

After exiting the tent he asked a passing soldier where the quartermaster was, following the direction's he found him quickly and requisitioned a new assault rifle, he had left his in the snow by Monty, two Frags, a new winter coating, and one plasma which was a bitch to get.

Damn experimental gear, he thought.

But for the last item, he didn't ask. No, this man knew the orders as it seemed. And held out three separate stacks of cards, scrips, like every good general used...

"They're fresh from the press sir, nobody will know, and they're made to inspire." Nate looked the man in the eyes and saw sorrow, he knew the orders. "They have to charge sir, this war must end."

He took the left one, it was as good as any speech, fake and inspiring. It was designed by the government to make men brave, to make them fight when a general couldn't. Wars where all smoke and mirrors to push pawns further. The only difference was this pawn made it behind the curtain, and it was darker than the field.

It wasn't Nate asking them. But it would work.

He cracked the wax cover off the cards and read them through, it would reach them, they would be remembered he reasoned.

Slowly he made his way to the forward most trench to get a view the field. And there it was... the Chinese compound.

It was really a refinery and monitoring station for the U.S. oil pipeline from Alaska to America, though it had suited the Chinese nicely. Two feet thick and twelve feet high of solid concrete walls reinforced with steel beams on the backside, originally meant to hold back eco-terrorists.

Automated turrets and Chinese snipers lining the walls, artillery in the hills behind. Riveted steel gates and sandbag lines along the front backed with machine guns of their own.

Sipping his coffee he tried to daft up a plan but nothing came to mind that Chase wouldn't have already tried.

His mind raced for a way to overcome this but none came. He was scared, though he would never let the men see, he always had to look like it was under control he was a war hero now. No job could be to tough.

Only a Sargent but General Chase trusted him to order troop, create strike plans hell higher ranks saluted him sometimes. He had a track record of success ever since the Type 63 tank depot.

They never thought about how many men died in the operation no, it was only the fact he got it done.

Cold sweat trickled down his back as he came to terms with his real orders... What Chase needed Nate to make them do he couldn't have on his record as an order.

They needed death, they needed bravery, they needed to go over the top.

He didn't want to, god he didn't want more men to die, but they had been at war for ten years. American casualties where already higher than the civil war, she couldn't keep it up any longer.

No the war needed to end, and for that they needed Anchorage, and for that... They needed this valley; regardless of the cost.

"Alright gather up as many men as you can by the mess." He said to the sniper who had been tailing him.

They ran off to do it, confuse and wondering about the cards, if people would come if THEY asked, but they went regardless while Nate walked to the cooks. As good a place as any for a meeting.

Men trickled in over the next twenty minutes talking among themselves or staring off blankly or trying to force down the frozen food. Once both woman where back and said they had gathered all they could he stood up to address them, some four hundred soldiers.

"How many Years has this war Raged" He yelled over the crowed, they quieted but still the general murmurings went, they recognized him. "I... remember. WE ALL DO. We all remember the news, the day the world stopped. The day the world changed forever. I was Eighteen and had just graduated. Things where tense but I hardly knew, I didn't care about politics, after all I had my first job at a Pizza Parlor to worry about,"

They laughed, if only at the nostalgia, they related. It was a good speech, and the writer deserved a raise because it worked, everybody remembered where they had been when the news came.

"When that TV came on with a Presidential Alert, the whole restaurant went silent as we listened to President Cain tell us the Reds Finally did it... They attacked Alaska."

A reverent Hush fell over the crowd as he spoke, they all remembered. They all knew what it felt like, to watch the future you planned for yourself crumble to ash.

"I played my luck another two years and another four jobs before the Draft rolled into my town. So I said why. take. the. Chance. I marched down to my Recruiter and said 'Sign me up for Anything, I just want something better than Canon Fodder"

It was a well known fact that if you where drafted you didn't get to pick your job, you hardly even got training. You where expendable meat.

"Lucky for me, my number was called two days later but I was already in training." Smiles, Frowns and gasps, they still didn't know what was going on.

"Ten years this war has gone on! A THIRD of MY LIFE AND A HALF OF SOME OF YOURS. A fourth grader doesn't remember his Father living at home, A man has been deployed so long he doesn't remember his mothers voice and I haven't been warm in ten MONTHS." They all shouted in agreement.

"Now I don't know about you, but I think this has gone on LONG ENOUGH!" They raised their gun to the sky and screamed even louder.

He left the speech behind, he had it under control.

"NOW I WANNA SEE MY FIANCE!" More cheers erupted. "SO LETS MARCH UP TO THAT GATE AND CLEAR THE WAY TO ANCHORAGE SO WE CAN GO HOME TO OUR WIVES," More cheers "OUR KIDS!" He hardly thought they could get louder but they did. "OUR COUNTRY!" He was deafened. And he knew he did a good job.

Moving off his soap box and into the ranks four company leaders approached him for orders. He was nervous and he hated himself but it needed to get done. He had delegated before just never one the same scale, they had four hundred men to start with and the runner had said they where down thirty percent so they had somewhere in the ball park he supposed.

"Alright I'll say this once, follow along and get this to your men. Power armor has the moving cover moving cover so they're going to push the sandbag line from the left and right pinching there firing lines. They have to clear it for us. Anybody with a ranged rifle will stay back, fire on the wall and clear it, they don't get to stop until the turrets are smoking, a single one still working could kill a squad. All the Flamers wait in the trench too, on the gate breach they charge and turn the courtyard into a blast furnace. General Infantry and Grenadiers charge the front using the bots as cover."

They all followed orders an found their squads to relay the plan while he moved on to the auto shop where he was met with the smell of oil and the chief mechanic, A passive aggressive, bitchy man who silently hated Nate behind his back because he broke his toys and nearly forgot they where at war at most times of the day.

"What can you give me?" He probed.

"Shit. Well we got Thirteen assaultrons ready, Seven Mr. Gutsy's and no sentry bots" The man replied clearly not aware of Richards delivery yet.

"Good enough, boot them up" The mechanic nodded and walked to his terminal.

With a hiss the robots came online and lined up. Nate walked in front of the head unit, robots worked in groups too making it so you didn't have to give the same order multiple time to all of them.

"They all linked?"

"Yes."

"Your mission is to charge the Chinese compounds gates, remove the red menace and preserve the lives of American soldiers, acknowledge command."

 _ **"Scanning... Sargent Nathaniel Dominic Howard recognized. You do not have proper rank to give command to these units."**_ It returned going dormant once again.

Nate shot a irritated glance at the grease monkey and he shot back to his terminal. After a few short moment the gave him the 'all good' look and Nate continued.

"Acknowledge previous command."

 _ **"Acknowledged Sargent Howard, beginning operation."**_

"Take place at the forward Trench."

And so he walked to the front, and his men stood before him in the deathly silence all looking for some confirmation that they would all be okay, he couldn't give it of course. And across the way he could see the tiny enemy arming themselves, no surprise.

"LETS SEND THE RED MENACE BACK TO ITS HELL!" He screamed, hurting his throat. They all exploded towards the compound.

The Run was hard, A thousand yards across to the gates with machine gun fire cutting them down the middle. The robots held as long as they could and got them most of the way, at least seventy percent there until the last one dropped.

So they where left with the fight all on the infantry. They took cover where they could, Digging in to the snow for camouflage or pre dropped Cement cover. Nate himself was in a fresh artillery crater with a few other men trying to weather a barrage of fire.

Sniper shots cracked out as it raged on, the power armor only just now getting to position. He found sight of one of the Gauss snipers trying to shoot at the enemy snipers along the wall.

She was ten yards away firing from a blind, she would be gunned down in a moment. It seemed her 'Extensive training' wasn't that good after all. He had to get to her fast before the opposing side saw her. Running through the gun fire he dove in beside her scarcely dodging a bullet that dug into the snow beside him.

"What are you doing out here, Snipers are in the trench." He demanded pulling her lower just as a machine gun streak dissolved the cover above them.

"YOU SAID FOLLOW YOU, YOU NEVER SAID STOP." She shouted back.

Fuck, Nate thought, to fresh to take a hint.

"Keep you head down and try to use it for once!"

Peaking out he found ground was being gained, the Chinese where failing but every step cost a life. The power armor units had nearly cleared the sandbags of reds with mini gun fire and things where looking up when he saw the faint red light under the snow.

The armored soldiers took a few more steps before they awoke the Spider drones. They where swarmed in a matter of moments by the explosive robots and blow to scraps.

"FUCK!" He Raged, one oversight and twenty men where dead instantly. Without them, pushing to the gate was going to get dozens of men killed.

"What now Sir!"

The sniper beside him was getting on his nerves, calling out the obvious like that.

"Well..." He said popping up to fire on the wall landing a few and turning the Communist Red. "I don't know, we needed them to clear the front door, and the robots are gone too." He explained trying to ignore the impending feeling of failure.

"What about the Sentry Bot we brought? He could clear this and maybe even pierce the turrets armor with that fifty cal he's toting."

He thought about it for the first time, the snow was matted down and it still wouldn't be able to move but, if the pulled it with ropes from cover, it would work.

"Whats your Name?" He asked over the gun fire.

"Rose"

"Well Rose, your a Fucking Genius. Wait here and please don't die." He yelled charging towards a farther barricade.

Searing pain sent him to the ground before he made it though. Dropping to the snow he rolled on his back and found a blood pool growing steady over his kidney. Next thing he knew a medic was dragging him by the plate straps behind a barricade and tearing his shirt open to reveal a .308 hole in his abdomen.

"Don't worry," Stammered the Medic pulling out gear and more morphine, not what he needed right now. "I'll get it out of you."

Shooting him up he dove into the breached flesh with forceps. Nate could feel it digging around, not painful in a real way, just in the way that he knew it was supposed to and so he felt it as such. But the medic got it out and stitched it, fast and effective.

"No more running until this fight is over!" He explained taking another patient who had a hole in the neck.

"No, I have to end this." Nate demanded lifting himself.

"Jesus fine," He replied leaving the now dead man. "Looking I can give you a solid Stimpak, A full dose will clear it in thirty minutes but its gonna burn you out fast." He urged the medic to elaborate. "We delude them and they heal it in a few days, a full syringe will heal it fast but you're gonna get exhausted, maybe even pass out, its hard for your body to handle healing that fast."

"Do it. And you, come here I need you to run a message to Chase as fast as you can." He ordered a man on the barricade.

Withdrawing paper and a pen from his pocket he found them blood soaked but ignored it, scribbling down the orders about the Sentry. He knew Chase would get it done. Like lightning the man was off running and the medic was now done injecting him, he could already feel it mending, and draining him.

"Any chance you have any stimulants to spare, I can't drop out now I'm in command of this whole operation." He explained now firing over the barricade. He knew stimulants where bad for you, but he also needed to see this through with out passing out.

"I know, It was a good speach, but you really Wanna mix?" He retorted annoyed and worried, Doctors...

"Yeah something like that, I can't drop out of this fight." He pleaded now looking the blonde man in the eyes while reloading.

"... Yeah I do have some, Your lucky I now how much the men need you." He mumbled now withdrawing a small pill bottle. "Buffout... Addictive, dangerous, super steroids, take it more than twice and your hooked and your cock'll get smaller... FAST. Still want em?"

"Don't have a choice." He said holding out his hand for the pills taking two and dissolving them in his mouth. He had seen soldiers hooked on this kinda shit, and the doc was right, they got hooked, fast.

Only this once, he swore to himself.

So he fired a while longer awaiting his plan, it was a stale mate at this point, Nobody was really winning. But soon his attention was caught by a Mister Gutsy hovering towards the Chinese lines.

He had sworn they where all destroyed a while ago. It moved in and raised an arm tipped with a Plasma caster, they where new and dangerous toys. But he didn't expect to see the closest Red turned to Green goo, armor and all, that melted the snow he had stood on a brief moment ago.

"Fuck" He cursed dropping below the cover to hurl into the snow.

Wiping his mouth he looked up to find many other men had done the same thing, after a moment of thinking about how to ask the question he decided on direct approach. "You all saw that right?" He asked dumbly, they nodded. "How can Plasma Melt a man?"

The medic was the only one to answer, though he couldn't look up form the man he was treating. "Well sir, A Plasma rifle fires super heated gas as ammo, once you turn it on it begins heating. If you fire at a steady rate the plasma will heat evenly, if you don't... Well you get super SUPER heated gas. Its a design flaw to be sure. At those temperatures it can not only destroy the gun in four or five shots but it can melt the target in a moment."

"How do you know all that?" Asked another man who had been listening farther down the line.

"Everybody was something before the war, just so happens I was a plasma welder for RobCo out in Nevada to pay for my med-school."

"Whats your name?" Nate shouted getting past it and firing on like it hadn't happened.

"Elliott Tercorien Sir. And if I may ask, Why The hell do we even need to take back a Pipeline refinery, I though we where after Anchorage?"

"Well Elliott, This is restricted information but I don't really care any more so I'll tell you." Nate screamed over the gun fire, loud enough for the whole line to hear. He was sworn to secrecy but that was a joke by now, Chase wouldn't kill him for it.

"We could have taken Anchorage years ago, but we would need troops... Can't air drop them in because the Commies have batteries all through the mountains, so we have to march in. But the snow stopped us all these years, too deep to move trucks and men through! And then we waited, Small skirmishes that turned big for five years while we beat around the bush. Holding them back we focused more in the Pacific until it was clear, The nine feet of snow this little valley has is the lowest we've seen so we mobilized. But the commies noticed too and used this place as a base to hold the valley, if we take it, its a straight shot to Anchorage and the war will be over in a few months."

"So, Your telling me the last Ten years is due to bad weather?" He yelled to shocked to be angry.

"More like the last Four but Yes, Now I think its time to end it" Nate said now seeing the ATV carrying the Sentry pulling up as few yards back.

The massive machine slid out as the truck drove, futile as the driver was killed by a sniper round.

The Sentry itself was on a cargo sled as he had instructed and seven men ran frantically to covers as far forwards as they had them carrying a cable. They dove in and passing them off while explaining the plan. The one running to his cover as well as another where shot down and dragged off by a medic leaving their rope stranded and exposed.

The Sentry booted up and raised to postilion as the gun fire came to rest on it, though none of the small caliber fire could really hurt the thick plates. So they started pulling it forward, and it unleashed its onslaught on the Reds just as Nate had planned. Had they done it sooner it would have failed, but he Chinese where spread too thin to stop it as it mowed them and their turrets down like piss on snow.

Once it got to the front they all waited as the screams and gun fire dwindled until at long last they received a deep robotic _**"This Area Is Now Clear Of Red Communist Activity."**_ And deactivated itself, leaving them to handle the Gate.

Together the Remaining men marched up to it in the uneasy quiet, It had taken a half hour and cost half of them but is was almost over, the only thing stopping them was a foot thick steel door with solid Hinges all the way down on the other side and reinforced. It wasn't coming down easy, but then, nothing ever was with the Chinese.

"... Any ideas" Nate wondered aloud and turning back to the men.

Many murmured about grenades or Mines, even pushing it down with a truck, but only one had an Idea worth trying.

"We Blow the Sentry's Fusion Cores to blow it down." Yelled Rose, He was glad to see she was okay.

He thought on it, it would take something incredibly strong to breach the core, something like his Plasma Grenade. "You're a genius Rose, crack it open and bring them up here."

Three men carried each class D Core to the gate and leaned them against it careful while Nate charged the grenade. "This is a Nuke... Haul. Ass. As. Far. As. You. Can. Then, Flamers, get in there and smoke the bastards." He said giving them all a moment to run before arming it, setting it to manual time, giving it two minutes and running like hell back to the forward trench.

The light of the blast reflected off the snow as bright as the sun and the earth trembled for a few moments but nobody was hurt, despite the clear breach of the warranty. The door was gone, vanished like the wind along with a massive chunk of the walls. The snow even, was melted for at least eighty feet around the gates by the atomic fire.

So the flamers marched in with Nate in tow as they entered the court yard, but they frozen.

He could sense something was wrong as he pushed to the front and the other soldiers followed in to the stone courtyard silent. Jingwei stood in the center with a man on his knees as the last one hundred soldiers filed in after to gain the spectacle. They circled around him to stop any escape, but he just stood, proud and silent holding his sword to the captives Neck.

"Wo XiaNg Howard xiansheng shouhua." He shouted eyeing every man surrounding him, but Nate only recognized his name. Everybody stood silent waiting for anybody else to make the first move until somebody shouted out form the other side of the ring.

"He says he wants to talk to Sargent Howard!"

His heart jumped, somehow he thought he would go unnoticed, the Jingwei only knew Chase and he would handle this if it happened. But to be called out like this, so confidently in the face of certain death? He was planning something.

Nate stepped up and all the eyes turned on him, "Who ever translated, get up here."

One of the young men from the convoy jogged up to Nate's side, Giving Jingwei a wide berth and sweating like an animal.

"Tell him its over, to give us the man and we wont kill him slowly." He instructed holding eye contact with the Asian general.

The man looked nervous but did as told and Jingwei laughed, not a good sign. The he spoke slowly and the Translator seemed to understand.

"He says commendable work thus far, especially our listening post. And not to worry, the last of his men where guarding the gates, he is alone." His blood ran cold, Jingwei knew him and his exploits as well, he hated it. "He says he doesn't think you understand though, your bargaining for YOUR lives right now." He explained to Nate with wide eyes.

Smiling he withdrew a detonator, a bad sign, Every gun in the room was on him, he had a detonator. As the General was distracted with brandishing the device though, Nate made a play for one small win and gave the captive a call out.

"Roll." He urged loudly, and the man followed his orders, still crying and fearful.

Sapping to focus on the escape the mad Communist was just too late on the swing of his sword to kill him, the captive made it to the edge of the crowd and was absorbed into safety. Jingwei moved on though, he was still save.

The translator continued a few words behind him as they moved on. " No that man is not safe yet. I'm sure this was not what you where hoping for, Not the Execution you've craved for so long. You have destroyed my tanks, my men and dragged my name through the mud... But you will never take this Valley. Our men will kill you all, then we will feed you to the dogs before we let you take this place from us. Now drop your guns now, and pick them up again and I blow the whole place instantly." He mumbled already unstrapping his side arm and tossing it towards the center.

Looking around Nate could see the charges on the pipeline, one breach and the whole pipe would go taking the whole force with it. But he realized that wasn't the threat, he gazed at the massive, snow packed mountains around them, a blast wold cause an avalanche sealing the valley for another year at least, and the Chinese could dig in even deeper.

Raising his hands he dropped his gun, stepping forward and ordering the men to do the same. Now he could see even Chase in the crowd looking at him, pure rage at the circumstances, Nate could almost here him, "What part of don't let him make my day worse didn't you get?", it seemed he knew about the avalanche danger as well though.

But he could still save them yet. He had come up with a plan, it was stupid, straight out of a movie, but it could work... Or they would all die in a gas explosion. But it was worth a try.

"Don't blow the pipeline... You can't, be captured right? Honor and all that... How about a dual? If I win you win, you die in combat, that's better right?" He glanced around and found the fear in the room lightening, god if Ben could see him.

The translator relayed it and Jingwei rolled his eyes then replied slowly and with no small amount of disgust. "He says he is Not Japanese and is insulted by your ignorance. He also insists that this is not a movie Nate." The translator replied cringing and also a little stupefied by the offer.

He mentally smacked himself, as embarrassments went that was very bad. But he wasn't a diplomat, he was a killer working off of movies he had seen over the years, but it could still work, or at least give a sniper time to get a shot on the madman, or something, they just needed time.

Speaking through his teeth he replied. "Well I Don't give a damn if I insulted him... We'll let him go." Gasps and Rage spread through the ring of on lookers confusing the Madman.

"You're already ready to die I know, but we'll let you go if you win, free walk. You could kill me, the man who humiliated you at every turn, in front of the whole American army, and if they don't let you go, you could still blow the Pipeline."

Nate didn't dare look back to the General while the Translator explained it too him, a wide smile spreading across the mans wicked face face.

"He wants to know if its acceptable General Chase" The translator asked and Nate half expected a speech about how they would rather die for their country or something, yet to his shock it was a yes.

"You win, you walk just like Sargent Howard said." Chase said mustering all the control he had. "But Howard never loses General, so say hello to Satan for me. Is this a sword thing or a gun?"

"He says Swords."

The Elder Chinese man walked to a dead man in a corner, already frozen over, and withdrew his sword and explaining something, Nate shot a look to the Translator.

"He says he executed them a few hours ago for failing to stop us... Something about them being the last line of defense of 'Ice Hell'" He explained.

Jingwei threw the sword at his few and kicked it to him, he picked it up and gave it a few test swings then held the blade in front of him, Jingwei did the same the Americans made a cycle arena around them. Chase watched him Sternly, how had this gone so badly? Surly there where other ways he could have handled this, but now he was dueling a Chinese General for all there lives and the end of the war, Life was a bitch.

They stood twenty feet apart, breaths smoking in the frigid air, both waiting for the other to begin. But now he felt it, the Buffout was almost gone along with the morphine, both fading fast. The searing Pain from his leg being the only thing keeping him focused, the Stim was draining him quickly without the drugs to fight it back.

And as he was unfocused Jingwei struck. Charging, Nate had only just enough time to dive away from the swing and landed roughly on the stone of the court. But the Chinamen didn't let up, leaping into the air he missed Nate by mere moments by a roll.

Getting to his feet took nearly all his will, the pain and fatigue making it near impossible. He never really practiced with swords save sticks as a child, regardless he charge sloppily with his sword low and struck at Jingwei to be blocked effortlessly. Back on the guard he parried strike after strike, his blade hissed with the current of Jingwei's shock sword as everyone watched with bated breath.

He knew he couldn't win this, not against a swordsmen like this in this condition. He blocked another swing and went for the legs missing again taking a deep slash on his thigh for the effort.

That level of pain was different, a new category was discovered as electricity rampaged through his musculature and sent his nerves wild. His leg dropped limp and convulsing. But he stood blocking another onslaught of blows until the another hit tore his arm open and he lost his sword, unable to keep his hand from shaking.

Having disarmed his opponent Jingwei spoke.

"Wo de ziyou suich kejian woqidia gen duo. Erie wo xiangxin wo huinbao guandao, haode, Howard xiansheng" He Boasted with a Joyful chuckle lowering his sword.

"What did he say?" Nate asked gripping his arm. It seemed Jingwei was waiting for him to know before stabbing him through.

"... He- His freedom is at hand... He Expected more... and he's still going to blow the Pipeline." He Translator mumbled absently in shock. Even with all that was happening he still found it annoying that people started screaming.

But he turned back to Jingwei, to face him even on his death, and he heard the man Speak English, "How does one say?.. YOU NOW SHALL DIE!" He stumbled out in rough English, it seemed he practiced his victory speech.

Yelps and screams came from most everybody as Jingwei plunged his blade into Nate's gut, A wicked grin on his face as he watched Nate's body convulse with the currents of the sword. No body would have time to grab a gun before it ended, they where as good as dead. But in his victory the mad general only watched the pain in Nate's eyes, not the sly of his hands, and he wouldn't loose like this.

Gripping his trench knife on the back of his belt he plunged the blade into Jingwei's eye swift and firm. Screaming the man dropped the sword and stumbled back while he pressed the detonator only to find thin air. And he watched with one eye as Nate toss it aside and fell to his back, quickly grabbing the Translators discarded 10mm and firing it through the fabric holster into Jingwei's Chest until dry.

But after that he gave in to the exhaustion, he was tired. Blurred figures surround him, he thought one was Chase, he seemed him proud. Another might have been the medic... his name escaped him, Rose was there he was sure, but the voices where fading, they seemed far away. He saw his Father, he hadn't seen him sense his funeral. His grandparents and his aunt, his brothers they where all there, but only one face was missing...

God he missed Nora.

OoOoOoOoO

"So your telling me I DON'T get to keep the sword an insane Chinese General stabbed me in the gut with?" he shouted at the U.S. representative.

He had been stabilized at the refinery, only by a little and flown back to Canada for treatment. Having been there for almost a month he expected a visit from Uncle Sam earlier but none the less it was nice to know Washington noticed him, even late.

"We wish we could," A bull faced lie. "But its being studied for American use on the field, it had some amazing conductive alloys."

"Trust me, I know..." He mumbled feeling the scars twitch. "Well what can I keep then?" He demanded, he knew he sounded like a child but he didn't really care.

"Well, your footlocker has been put on hold home as you have no spouse or address-"

"You can thank five years of service for that." He mumbled again, but the man brushed past it, disgruntled veterans was his thing.

"Don't worry, we still have a few things to repay you for. Think of something you want or need Sargent Howard." He said cryptically and handing him a receipt for his footlocker. He shot him a puzzled look, enough to make him elaborate.

"You can't just spearhead the entire post operations for the liberation of anchorage, kill a Chinese war criminal and almost sacrifice your life for your country and think we wouldn't want to thank you. Your a war hero" Continued the Man with a grin. "That will be all for now, we will get back to you once your stateside again."

He left and Nate walked down the hall to the cafeteria to meet Monty with the help of a nurse while thinking about he last few weeks.

The Hospital staff had been very overbearing about his recovery. He was kept in bed for the first two weeks strait and followed twenty four seven. His wounds had healed pretty well, though they would scar terribly.

But he forgave them, field medics job is to keep you alive not make clean stitches. And Elliot did an amazing job even saving him, He had tried to send a letter thanking him but nobody seemed to be able to find him, he had just disappeared.

He was also grateful to General Chase. He treated his men well, if they won battles, and did him a few favors. He got Nate's name on the news as 'The Hero of Anchorage' for what it was worth, he got him increased pension and a hospital shared with Benjamin. He also lined up a promotion to Captain but Nate had declined stating that he planned not to continue in the army, much to Chase's dismay.

Entering the cafeteria he spotted his friend sitting with some fellow soldiers, grabbing food he joined them seating himself across for Ben.

Montgomery had sustained internal bleeding and major lacerations after the shell, the medics said the Stimpaks he gave him where the only thing that saved him, though they had to reopen the wounds to get the metal out, leaving him bed and wheelchair ridden for weeks. Yet another bad case of scars aswell.

Overall the pair had been more damaged than any other man alive in the hospital.

"Somebody looks better, they still following you around?" Said Ben gesturing to the nurse standing by the door.

"Everywhere"

"So its mail day right? did ya'll get letters?" Said on of the men at the table.

"Yes sir, Tax's, Bills, And a letter saying I won three free Superbowl tickets. You guys?"

"Bills, taxes and my mom."

"Medical bills for my daughter, and Letters from said daughter."

"A letter from Nora."

"My dad died, inheritance"

They all finished their meals and quite banter until Ben finally popped the question he had been dreading.

"So you got the scans right, what did they say?"

"They said electrical shock at those levels is bad for you and the blade electrocuted even after the bastard Dropped it... Major nerve damage." every one was left in a silent.

"Well... how bad?"

Nate swiftly grabbed a fork and drove it into his hand causing everyone at the table to jump, though he didn't even so much as flinch. "That bad, No more pain, touch is dull at best. Such is the price for freedom I suppose." He said somberly trying to hind his emotions on the matter.

"Jesus Christ... but on the scale of things, no pain isn't that bad right?"

"I guess"

OoOoOoOoO

Stepping through the gate he saw so many people holding signs, hugging their brave men and women finally coming home. No one was alone not even Monty, Who's Parents had driven to DC from New Mexico to see him. Looking around he finally found that face that was there for him, Nora.

He ran towards he as fast as he could, she saw him only in time to see who it was before being assaulted by his hug. Nora cried and laughed as she held onto him like he would slip away at anytime and he did the same, He had waited for this for so long, all the fighting and pain was made worth it for this moment.

She finally stopped sobbing and kissed him, which was interrupted a moment later.

"Sooooo, you going to introduce me?" Asked Monty from behind him.

"Oh Jesus right now?" The grin on his face said now. "Fine. Nora this is Benjamin Montgomery my Battle Buddy, Ben this is Nora my-"

"I'm his Girlfriend, pleasure to meet you" She interrupted shaking Benjamin's hand.

"Nice to finally meet you, you've got a spell on this boy something fierce." Said Benjamin. Nora shot a grin at Nate and he chuckled. "He's saved my life twice now, Bravest man I ever met."

"I know" replied Nora.

"Hello, you must be Nate." Said an elderly woman approaching quickly. "Our little Benjy has told us so much about you." He presumed this was his mother.

"Thanks for keeping the fool out of trouble, God knows he needed it." Added a old men, his father.

"So Benjy tells me your going to win the Metal of Honor tomorrow, you're a very lucky woman to find a hero like this." Nate grimaced at the shatter surprise as Nora thanked her, playing off the real reason she was in DC.

"That is enough mom, lets not interrupt them anymore." Interjected Ben clearly embarrassed, like a little boy. He and his parents walked away leaving them a moment of piece.

"The Metal of Honor huh, Is that why you had me drive all the way to Washington?" She asked slyly, not wanting to show excitement, but failing.

"Yes it is, Though it was supposed to be a surprise" Nate said, Nora got a little uncomfortable by the last word.

"Yeah... Speaking about surprises," She nervously mumbled. "I have one for you too."

She walked over to the bench she was sitting on a moment ago, only a few feet away from them leaving Nate lost in wonder. What did she mean? was it bad, no it couldn't be, her tone was only worried not mad.

He was lost until she grabbed the baby carrier and his heart stopped.

"His Name is Shaun Howard."

OoOoOoOoO

 _"YOU NOW SHALL DIE!"_

Nate woke form the dream sweating and terrified fumbling to stop the bleeding, but all he found was the scar, it calmed him. Just another dream he thought.

The sun was shining though the window, he had overslept again. Nora was not next to him so she must have let him sleep in, She shouldn't have he had things to do today. Standing up he walked over to the bathroom and washed his face and found her standing in the door way in the mirror.

"Your gonna knock them dead at the veterans hall tonight honey." she whispered in his ear.

"You think?"

"Absolutely, now quit hogging the mirror."

"Alright, alright you look better in it anyways."

Sanctuary Hills was nice, Nora loved it and it was away form the city like Nate liked. The home was given to Nate in exchange for allowing the government to use his likeness in some training program, seemed like a good deal to him.

Nora was always busy, she was a lawyer and Nate supported her in it with his pay from the war. But now he was board, she was gone most days for work and Shaun was an easy baby, and he only watched him every other day to make time for his job at he Red Rocket station down he street. The amount of training he did for it was insane, more than he needed to win a war.

He walked to the kitchen to get his morning coffee and some food then met his robotic butler, A General Atomics International 'Mister Handy', Codsworth. The robot reminded him of the Anchorage equivalent the 'Mister Gutsy, though his was far more courteous and gentle doing most of the work around the house for him, and he had a nicer voice, one that didn't send him back to boot camp.

 _ **"Ah good morning suh! Your Coffee , 173.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Brewed to**_ _ **perfection. And today's news paper Just delivered"**_ He chirped in his English accent.

"Thank you Cods..." He mumbled absently minded, taking the coffee pot from the robots metal claw.

 ** _"Mister Howard! That coffee is near boiling, are you alright you know it has to cool!"_** Shouted the robot, he still hadn't grasped the concept of no pain.

Nate had almost forgotten the lack of pain, only rarely reminded by the fear of others for him. Times like missing the nail and hitting his finger, or grabbing a trey from the oven with his bare hand where the only moments it bothered him, the doctors said it would be a serious problem once he got older though.

"I'm fine Codsworth, can you hand me the paper?" The robot nodded its central eye and went about its work, handing him the paper as he poured two cups.

"Thank you Codsworth," Most people didn't bother thanking the robots, but Nate did it regardless, it was instinct. Grabbing the paper he turned to the war report. "If we keep pushing the Reds they will do something crazy"

 _ **"Your probably right suh, but what else can we do. We have to win right?"**_

He didn't reply, instead he grabbed two pieces of bread and put them in the toaster, then switched on the TV and listened to the News. Sipping his Coffee he read the sports section, Nora walked in and Nate passed her a cup.

"So, Monties in town for the speech."

"Oh, Is his Girlfriend with him?" She Inquired.

"I don't think so, but I'll ask him today." He said now planning out the day. "I think I better check on Nick too, He's not been himself sense Jennifer Died. Always blowing off plans to pour over those case files, or drinking, I need to talk with him... Man to Man. He can't keep doing this to himself." He explained. His friend had been broken ever since the funeral, six months ago.

"It wont be that easy, he lost he love of his life Nate. Is he still being treated at the CIT?"

"Yeah. He thinks they're crazy you know, always scanning his brain like maybe that will fix him or thinking they will find a tumor as if the problems can just be cut out. Makes me nervous though, what if he goes after that Winter Bastard and ends up killing him?"

"Nicks not that stupid Nate, Hell I'm more worried that, if he asked, you would help him." She joked before a knock on the door interrupted them. "Oh damn, Its that salesman again, I've been dodging him all week."

"Don't worry Hon I'll scare the bad man away." He mocked walking to the door. Opening it he found a smaller man in his forties on his porch. He wore a trench coat and a fedora, and had a clip board in hand

"Good Morning, Vault Tech calling" He began, dripping with enthusiasm.

"Good morning"

"Isn't it, just look at that sky." He trailed off, then cleared his throat. "You can't begin to know how happy I am to finally speak with you, I've been trying for days." A worried tone on worried words words, But Nate just wanted to know what he wanted.

"Alright what appears to be the problem?"

"Oh no problem, I'm here to tell you that because of your family service to our county, you have been pre-selected for entry to the local vault. Vault One Eleven" He replied with no small amount of gusto.

"Alright sounds great."

"We just need some information." He insisted pushing the Clipboard into his hands. It was mostly dates of birth, residents and names, only taking him a moment. As he scribbled it all down he couldn't help but wonder about the mysterious Vault-Tec, and just how much this was worth.

"Just out of curiosity, how much does Vault insurance cost?"

"Oh well... Average Plan for a local vault... Seventy thousand Per Person with full benefits."

"Damn... I guess I'm saving big then, thank you." He joked at the outrageous amount of money, the average man couldn't pay that, every vault would just be packed with rich people.

"Wonderful, I'll just walk these over to the vault this afternoon. And congratulations on being prepared for the future." He said walking back to the logo-ed van.

"Hey, its peace of mind, that's worth a little paperwork right?" She asked closing the door. There was a right answer to this question.

"For you and Shaun no price it to high."

"Good answer" Nora said giggling.

"I have my moments."

They finished there coffee in then went their own ways for the morning, Nate went back for the toast he had forgotten and Nora to go get ready. As he ate a car pulled up and out hopped the familiar face of Benjamin with his bags. Nate walked quickly to the door to open it for his friend, and greeted him warmly, which was returned and they walked into the house.

"Damn, why didn't I ask for a house in that program deal? All I got was all my student debt to be paid and the Mercer out there." Said Benjamin marveled, gesturing to the car parked outside

"You should be happy, Nora's student debt took all my checks to pay off. Jesus man how long has it been," He replied hugging his friend.

"Too long, Speaking of Nora where is the lady." He laughed knowing full well she was coming.

"Hello Ben"Nora warmly greeted, peaking out from the corner of the hallway.

"Nice to see you again, Its been since the wedding hasn't it. Time fly's I suppose. Anyways I bet your wondering why I came out his way," They both had wondered, Not that it wasn't welcome but flying out was expensive, and all for a speech? "I got a job out here!" He exclaimed flooding the room with excitement.

"Hell Yeah, what did you get?"Nate shouted Cheerfully, Having his best friend in the area would be great.

"Picture this... Benjamin Montgomery, Head of security at ArcJet Systems." He informed ecstatically.

"That's great Ben, when will you be moving out?" Nora asked, happy to see Nate so happy.

"November twelfth, already got an apartment by the stadium. Who knows maybe we can catch a few games."

"Well your always welcome here Benjamin." Nora added getting a thankful look from her husband.

 _ **"Mister Howard, Shaun has been changed but he absolutely refuses to calm down. I think he needs some of that 'Paternal affection' you seem to be so good at." I**_ nterrupted Codsworth as Shaun cried in the other room.

"Well you heard him Nate" She chuckled. "You TWO get to go handle that, I still need to get ready"

"Alright time for Shaun to see uncle Benjie." His friend boasted walking down the hall.

Once they got into the room the crying calmed slightly. Nate walked over and spun the mobile and played with his little hands, Ben and Nora watched from the doorway whispering about how good a dad he was.

He picked his son up and handed him to Benjamin who looked completely out of his element, for all his boasting he was actually terrified of holding baby's, they always felt too fragile for him.

"So now that Ben is in town," Nora started glancing at him then Nate. "What should we do for the rest of the day?"

"Beers." Said Ben.

"And Food." Nate added.

"And Woman." Benjamin topped. An annoyed look from Nora set him straight. "For me."

"That sounds fun. But we would need to get a sitter for Shaun." He interjected trying to get Nora off Benjamin's antics, he knew he only wanted to annoy her.

"I can ask the Hawthorne's, they always are so good with him."

"Alright, good plan but where shou-" He was cut off by Codsworth in the front room.

 ** _"SUH, MUM YOUR SHOULD COME AND SEE THIS!"_** shouted the Robot in a fearful tone.

"Codsworth?.. Whats wrong?" Nora said running to the robot followed by Nate, and Monty still holding Shaun.

The robot was staring at the Television news anchor with a deadly focus. The man on the screen held a worried tone and people in the news room where running around with papers and reports, it reminded Nate of the command tent in Alaska, a feeling that did not sit well.

 _"-Yes followed by sounds of explosions, Flashes blinding flashes. We have lost contact with the west coast... still trying to get_ _confirmation... YES we do have confirmed reports I repeat confirmed reports of Nuclear Detonation in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Salt Lake city and the surrounding areas... Denver and Kansas City have gone Dark as well. My God."_

* * *

 **Jesus this was long** **. Anyways Welcome to the story, if you made it this far down I hope you like my writing and hope you follow of favorite, it means a lot. I am going through slowly and re working the earlier chapters so forgive me until I get it all done but you know how it is. Feel free to message me, I will respond in a day or two and I enjoy it. Anyways here are some things I would like to mention and spew, feel free to skip it.**

* * *

 **I don't know how people could think Nora could survive in the wasteland I mean she was a lawyer of all things. And I know a high charisma (like a lawyer should have) would help but Nate was in the army so he would know how to clean and fire a weapon, How to fight and would be used to killing people which is the only things that could keep him alive in most of his future endeavors.**

 **I also like to think that Nate served in Anchorage because that would make sense, He was a decorated war hero so what could he have done? The player in Operation Anchorage did quite a lot and could have been based on a real man Chase knew. Also why did the news anchor say they lost contact with New York and Pennsylvania, An attack from China would have come from the west not he east.**

 **For the Anchorage part I did a hell of a lot of tweaks, All the terminals in Baileys crossroads say Chase was mad and making shit up like the Chimeras and the Fatman's where also not in field deployment at that poin** **t. So I worked it how I thought it might have gone, changing the Tank depot to a real model, and getting the door down in another way.**

 **About the raciest slur's. They are terrible but important, Chase hated the commies and in turn Asians in general, most of the men probably did as well, I've been around military men most of my life, my brother is in the Army and hate of the enemy is an important aspect of war. So there had to be some display of hate.**

 **As a writer I would like to make a formal apology if I did end up offending anyone with the language in this story especially the previously stated racism But my goal is to make this as real as possible and in a story like this horrible things can be said and done, if you can't handle that you probably shouldn't read this story.**

 **-Whiskyfalls**


	2. Freezer Burn

**Second Re-Work so far, gotta get this up to par.**

 **Freezer Burn**

* * *

"FUCKING REDS!" Ben screamed enraged.

In his panic he grabbed the closest chair and shattered it on the floor. It was a dead end though... Anger couldn't save the world any more than the war could have, Nate knew it, the meaning it all poured through him leaving him frozen to the floor while his wife dropped to the ground in shock.

He couldn't move, wouldn't, or didn't think too rather, It was all too much. He didn't really hear Ben destroying his living room, or the sirens tearing through the autumn air or Shaun's wails as he read the mood of the home that had changed so drastically. He was for all intents and purposes sensory deaf in the swell of emotion he now faced, but Nora broke through, she always did when he got like this; shell shocked.

"What are we going to do Nate!"

He was dumbfounded by the question, the whole room was on him. Ben, Nora and Codsworth all stared desperate for direction. "We need to get to the vault... NOW."

And like that they jumped to work, each feeling a title wave drawing closer with every second.

"What should we pack?" Nora asked frantically.

"NOTHING." Ben yelled from down the hall, only now reentering the living room swaddling Shaun, near rabid by now. "Nate, how long do you think it will take for a stealth bomber to get here, I give us twenty minutes." He questioned. He agreed.

"Twenty Tops." He Reaffirmed barreling down the hall to his room.

His footlocker was under their bed, and in it was his gun. He knew why he would need it, people got desperate when things where hard, they got stupid, and stupid people where dangerous to his family, stupid enough to try something against two vets.

Jamming the 10mm into his belt he ran back to the door and ushered his family out, to be called back by a the final member's mechanical voice.

 ** _"What should I do Suh?"_**

 _Codsworth._

The robot was practically a member of the family, his most helpful friend, in a way. Free thinking to a existent as he had specified, leaving him alone would be torture, but in the end he was just a robot.

"Codz... Stay here and guard the house until we come back. Don't worry buddy we'll... we'll be home soon." He struggled, knowing he was lying.

He could tell it knew that was a lie, but Codsworth would do its job until the end, like a loyal dog it would do it. _**"Suh yes Suh."** _Replied the robot with a chuckle that died quickly. _**"Goodbye Mr. Howard. I'll watch over your things with my life."**_

With that he left the robotic butler in the house to catch up with Nora and Ben. His neighbors had clearly heard the news of impending doom, past the threshold pandemonium had incited, looking up and down the street he saw how the world unraveled.

Sirens screamed through the air as Vertibirds flocked to wherever their last flight would take them. Already he could see two car crashes as people poured out of there homes with whatever they could carry. Panic was a bitch and only after climbing on top of Ben's car could he pick out his wife in the flood of bodies already leading Benjamin towards the path to the Vault.

He caught them on the path and only Ben saw him coming. A glance told him everything, Nora was as slow as the average neighbor and Ben was too only to stay with her. He nodded and Ben exploded down the path with Shaun while Nate hoisted Nora over his shoulders, ignoring her protests, and followed pace. He knew it would hurt her, it was painful to be carried by a sprinting man, but he needed to save her and she would forgive him.

He couldn't feel the pained excursion of carrying another person on his back but some things danced in that little grey area between pain and general exhaustion, leaving only a overflow of adrenaline to lead him down the path. They passed dozens of family and he felt bad, not every husband could carry his wife to safety as bad as he wanted to, but he was glad the military had made him able to.

The Vault was a mile west of Sanctuary, Ben and Shaun had beat them there by a minute or two but finally Nate got there, pouring sweat and seeing spots. He put Nora down gently and she rushed to his side, ignoring the bruises on her abdomen from his shoulders. He couldn't grasp much as he fought the urge to pass out, but he caught the crowd.

Reality set in and he got back up on shaky legs.

Everyone in the local area knew about the vault it, was some of the main gossip. How it had brought in so many jobs and gave the people of the area some security. So whether or not they where on the list didn't really matter to any of them, they all flooded towards the great shelter.

The crowd of sheep between him and the gates was hundreds of people thick, in the time it would take to sort through all of them it would be too late. Nate glanced at his family for a moment, Nora and Shaun, he even felt the same about Ben. He was tired but THEY took priory, everybody else was an obstacle, HIS family took priority however selfish it was, so he took Nora's hand and she grabbed Benjamin and they began pushing their way through the crowd.

He was yelled at, he was hit, and he was hated but he pushed through. It wasn't until he lost his grip on Nora that he turned back.

A tall, bullish man had stopped her and Nate caught it just in time to watch him smack while another sent Ben sprawling to the dirt with Shaun, it seemed they had missed him.

"YOU THINK YOUR FAMILY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN MINE BITCH!" He cursed sending Shaun into another fit of tears. Nora was too scared an stunned to reply, but Nate did. And hitting any woman, his wife at that, was a fatal error.

"Yes. I. do."

The assailant turned only in time to see Nate taking aim, and he was bleeding from the head before he could blink. A scream erupted as people backed up and formed a circle around the murder while Nate charged the second man, tackling him to the dirt.

He fought like a dog, cornered and scared and even got a strong hit on Nate's nose probably breaking it, but Nate was trained to do this, and he never stood a chance. In ten seconds the man was on the ropes, in twenty he was incapacitated, in thirty he was meat being pounded by blow after blow to the face and throat.

"MY FAMILY IS MORE IMPOTENT THAN YOURS YOU YOU FUCKING RED!" He screamed as his knuckles split, but before he could stop it he was on his back, Ben had tackled him, and he calmed enough to look around.

His wife was red faced and desperate, she must have been screaming at him. Shaun was with her and he was just as upset and Ben looked frantically around at the crowd like they might pounce at any moment. The man he had shot had a few kids around him, he had killed their father it seemed, and the people around him must have been ready to charge him and kill the murderer.

They all where terrified of him. He knew many of these people from the station or personally and they where scared of him, like the family dog had gone rabid. A few men began to move in but Nate was up with the pistol ready, they all stopped in there tracks.

"Move out of my way or I WILL kill you." He ordered brandishing the gun until a path cleared.

Grabbing Nora he swiftly moved from the scene never lowering the gun. Luckily the gate was just far enough away for anybody to be completely aware of what had happened as he stashed the pistol back in his pants. At the front the vault Representative who had come to his door was begging the military to let him pass into the vault but they would not budge.

He was chased away by a power armor revving his mini gun. Once that was cleared up the man with a list called them forward seeing they where the only ones who hadn't backed up "You sir. Step forward."

"We need to get into the vault NOW, were on the list." He lied. The vault Rep hadn't had time to turn in the paper it seemed.

"Last name?"

"Howard"

"I don't see any Howard, Leave the line."

His heart fell for a moment. But was brought back by a voice that carried Deja Vu within it. "Sargent HOWARD?"

A few yard behind the fence a shorter man was looking his way, Nate had no idea who he was. "His last name is Howard, don't worry he's on the list." Another lie? "What are you doing here?" He said walking towards the gate pushing the list man aside to greet him.

"I live here." He said casting his best 'Please tell me who you are' Face, the man got the message.

"I never really talked to you I suppose, I'm Commander Nicholson, I was in Alaska at the refinery. Jingwei was about to chop me in the yard before your ass rushed in like some kinda guardian angel," The man said ecstatically. Nate did remember this man, one of two prisoners when they breached the compound.

He continued before Nate could reply "We got to get you up to the platform stat its about to go down." He said taking Nate and Nora through the gate, but leaving Ben behind, he tried to follow but was halted by the armor. He pushed his luck too damn far, but he had to keep going.

"I need Montgomery in this vault commander." He said as stern as he could without sounding ungrateful.

"Sorry sir. If hes not on the list he can't get in. My hands are tied." A air of sadness in his voice.

"Please just let him through" Pleaded Nora.

"I am so sorry ma'am, but I can't just pick and choose."

"Bend the rules, Please." Nate snapped, he would save Ben. HE continued before he could say no any further.

"Gunnery Sargent Montgomery was just as impotent in all the ops I was. If it wasn't for him I would have been dead long before we saved you. MY GOD The world is about to end why do you still care."

But catching Nicholson's eyes he had an epiphany. This man had to care. Nobody else did, these people would just run the gate or riot if he didn't do his job, Nate with them, somebody had to care even if it meant he didn't get into the vault. Somebody had to hold up the retreat.

This man had already lied for Nate's sake he wasn't really on the list yet but he wanted to return the favor. But he pushed those thoughts away, he had to be selfish today, he couldn't leave Ben.

Swiftly grabbing Nicholson he pulled him close to whisper in his ear, this did not go over well with the other soldiers but they stood down.

" _I know you lied, were not on that list and I want to thank you for it, But I would rather die out here than have to leave my brother this close to safety. So if you can't let him in then let me trade places with him, take my wife and him to the vault please... I have to know their safe._ " HE whispered pleading, begged.

"Alright... alright let him through."

"Commander you can't just let some random come start gi-" Started one of the guards but they where quickly silenced by their CO.

"Last I checked I am in command here, Don't presume to tell me how to do my job... You weren't in Anchorage Kid. We all owe these guys."

The Armor hesitated but let Ben through and he sprinted up to the group relieved. Though most behind the gate didn't feel the same, they started shaking the gate and yelling, demanding the same and trying to push through, things where falling apart.

He could almost feel the world balancing on a thread, it felt like something was closing in. It was all about to go.

"Alright, get these people up to the pad NOW."

Nate, Nora, Shaun and Ben began following a man clad in Vault-Tec riot gear up the dirt trail and away from the riot. Nora questioned endlessly about the people behind, what would happen to them and all. But with his family safe now, He a moment to think about what he had just done, he didn't like it.

He never really had a violent temper save at war. What had caused him to assault that man in the crowd like that? When had this started, because it was a trend now, he had lost his temper a few times in the last few months. But the part that bothered him most was how hollow he felt, he didn't really regret it, he just knew he should have.

They all arrived at the top of the hill, he hardly noticed the other people on the pad though. His mind felt like it was fogging, thinking was getting harder and harder to keep on track, every instinct firing off at once it was maddening.

He tried to focus on something else, the Vault caught what was left of his attention. It was different to say the least. No big door cut into the side of a mountain like on TV, he could only assume that the main complex was bellow them.

Shifting his focus to Nora now she seemed tense, on the verge of a break down, it made sense given all that was happening. So he extended his hand towards his wife, it was a simple gesture but when she took it he knew she needed it, to know he was there with her.

"Were almost there, I love you, Both of y-"

The flash was unholy, so bright it nearly blinded him.

Nate had only heard story's about Nuclear bombs, just like any American had, had been shown videos and given lessons in school to illustrate how diabolical they really where. Such a destructive weapon that they held the entire world at a stalemate for a century and a half. He already knew they where bad.

But to see one so close? To feel the earth shudder beneath it and watch it bloom to tear through the sky. To watch planes in the distance drop like flies as the wave flowed like water towards the cities in the distance, each filled with millions of souls watching in unison knowing they just where not far enough away?

Well the terror was absolute, all consuming as the explosion spread.

It began seeping into every corner of his soul, his world was ending. The blast wave stampeded through his whole world like knife on paper nothing stopped it, nothing could hinder it. And just as it was about to sweep them away like the rest of Massachusetts approached just as his head dipped beneath the rim. He had completely forgot the vault or that it had been closing.

And with that the tunnel was promptly filled with wails and cries as it dawned on the surviving souls what had just happened.

OoOoOoOoO

It felt like and eternity, being lowered to the bottom of that chasm, but it did end eventually. The survives eyes where assaulted by fluorescent light momentary blinding the view of their new home. Once his eyes dilated properly he was able to get a proper view of the vault.

It was... like every other he had seen on Television. The underground plummet segment must have been added recently for extra protection.

The concrete yellow and blue walls looked strong and where embroidered with the signature cog vault door, left open to them. Pipes and crates spilled out of the entrance while people where scatted about the chamber, whether Vault-Tec or civilians.

After a moment the platform was in place and safety grate raise and they where approached by a plump ginger with a mustache, the signature vault boy suit clinging to him in all the worst ways, he was quickly taken back by the state of the people but went over his speech none the less.

"Alright everybody please step off the elevator and proceed up the stairs in an orderly fashion." He said in a calm Boston accent, perhaps he didn't know what had happened.

Those not in shock started asking questions frantically, the Vault worked was stupefied by some of them and had to fall back on speaking over them to deliver the script.

"NO NEED TO WORRY FOLKS," He insisted. "We'll have everybody situated in your new home soon, Vault One-Eleven." Finishing and jogging away he gave one one last moto. No doubt he was going to tell the rest of the staff this would be the last group.

Grabbing his wife's hand they walked towards the stairs passing some of their neighbors. Ben followed them off the lift but stopped at the stair saying he 'needed a minute'. So Nate and Nora obliged and walked up the stairs finding a place in the entrance line.

"We made it, We're safe now." He mumbled giving her a hug, not that she needed it but he did. Just doing that relaxed him, but Nora looked unsettled.

"Nate... our house, Codsworth all those people... its all gone Nate." she said somberly. "You almost killed people Nate... You saved us I know but you scared me and Shaun. I SCREAMED FOR YOU TO STOP ... but you wouldn't, and when I saw your eyes YOU scared me... You killed him didn't you?"

Shame rose up in his chest, she was scared of him. How could he have lost control like that in front of them. "I don't know".

Now she was angry. " Don't lie to me Nate you've killed countless people I know you know..." But after her outburst she quickly composed herself like always and got back to the point "But you save us... I want you to know that. If we had waited we would be dead. So I thank you. And I love you." She whispered.

He thought it was done for now but after a moment she began pushing again.

"I know somethings wrong Nate. You don't eat, You don't sleep and when you do its all nightmares. Your anger has spiked and you just space out all the time and you overreact if I even drop a pan... Why don't you ever talk about Anchorage?"

Damn it she noticed the Nightmares. "You know I can't talk about Anchorage Nora" She respected his privacy about the war and when she didn't he would say it was classified. To start pushing again now would mean she had to be really worried about him.

The conversation was put on hold by them reaching the front of the line and a perky woman in turn.

"You'll need your suits before entering further into the vault." She said smoothly handing them a packaged suit.

"Why can't we wear our normal clothes?" Inquired Nora.

"You can't wear those forever can you? Best get used to the suits now. Also, no metal, that includes the rings and... Your gun sir" The weapon clearly made her uneasy. "Put all of it in this box and write your name on it, don't worry it will be put in the lockup for later."

Confused they both took one thanking her then walked to the temporary changing area. It consisted of small walls facing openly towards the recipients leaving little privacy. Nate changed first into the neon blue jump suit zipping it up, it was a good fit.

Nora changed next after handing Nate the baby, He tried to stand in front of her not wanting people to see his wife changing and caught one of the staff doing so. A death glare was all it took to subdue him.

They tossed their belongings into the box, Nate's fathers lighter, his gun, ammo, his dog tags, and of course their wedding rings.

"You look nice sweetie, that suit really highlights your chest."

"You too" Nate replied giving a sly grin causing Nora to blush wildly.

They walked up to the woman again for the next step and where directed to a older graying man who they followed deeper into the vault.

"So this is our new home" Questioned Nora half to her self scanning the walls. The doctor was quick to reply.

"Oh your going to love it here. This is one of our most advanced facility" He chimed. He seemed to have caught him self and followed up "Not that the others are not great mind you."

The comment about other vaults brought him to remember Chase's insights into Vault-Tec. "I've heard that vault-tec has most vaults set up with tests? To preform while in operation on the inhabitants" Nate knew he touched a sore spot as the man stiffened.

Breathing out heavily the doctor replied carefully "Yes that is true. They didn't want to waist the opportunity, I don't agree with Vault Tec on this though. And I will tell you, we have a test for this vault as well."

Nora cut off the tense conversation very quickly knowing how far Nate might have pushed it. "How long do you think we are going to be down here?"

"We'll be going over all that in orientation, just a few medical items to go over first."

As they walked deeper they passed a few rooms filled with; the only word that came to his mind was pods. The look of them put Nate one edge.

A mess of pipes and wires spilling out on all sides connecting to a similar groups in the rafters that lead somewhere deeper. Another strange thing was how it only got colder as they walked deeper, it seemed they hadn't had time to turn on the heaters yet. But soon made it to a room at the end of the corridor filled with more of the strange pods.

"What are these?" Nate finally asked.

"These are decontamination units. Our Vaults test is to have people live in an environment free from bacteria. These will decontaminate you then take you further into the Vault." Replied the doctor but Nate wasn't buying it.

These would need to remove all the bacteria the body including inside, but he didn't really have another option. And why would vault-tec bring them down here if it was to harm them, they could have left them outside to do that.

"Alright sir, step into this pod and ma'am, you and the baby will be right across from him." They followed the instruction with Nate helping Nora into her pod then passing her Shaun. The baby started to cry once he left Nate's arms and he climbed into his pod across the way.

"Alright, we will wait until every unit in this room is full, then begin the posses."

It took a few minutes for enough people to enter the room, one of which was Benjamin who was placed down in the outlying pod on Nora's right, but soon they started the pods. The doctors walked up and down the lines refusing to answer questions as they hooked a I.V. from the pod into each persons arm and two small suction cup electrodes to their torsos.

They did this to every person including Shaun who did not take the needle well, but soon the doctor walked down the isle and addressed the group in general "The pod will decontaminate and depressurize you before we head deeper into the vault" He exclaimed as the doors began to close

A robotic voice came over the speakers, seemingly announcing the procedure was starting.

 _ **"Resident secure. Occupant vitals: Normal."**_ The I.V. filled with a grey fluid now pouring into his vain and he suddenly became dizzy.

 _ **"Procedure**_ ** _complete in-"_**

Nate quickly made note of how fast the temperature was dropping he could see his breath in the air as frost crept across the porthole. Anchorage seemed a beach day compared to this cold, his vision began to fail him and he could feel himself slipping into unconsciousness.

"Fuck"

 ** _"5...4...3...2...1..."_**

OoOoOoOoOoO

 _ **"Manual override initiated, Cryogenic stasis suspended."**_

The words where hollow, robotic, drifting around in his fog covered mind, he thought it an eternity since he had heard a voice in the darkness, but he wasn't really sure, time didn't make sense at the moment. He knew someone was in the room the problem was seeing them, his eyes refused to adjust to the lighting feeling stiff, it was as if he had been underground his entire life.

His hearing was fuzzy at best but he made out a male voice along with two undefined.

"-s the one..-re"

"Open it" Responded a deeper one.

They where getting them out, thank god.

How long had they been down there? His muscles felt stiff and cold, like a frozen steak, but vault tec was letting them out now it was over. Nate strained his eyes against the light to see their rescuers but all he could get where forms, not really helpful but the pod was heating up, it felt like a gift from god.

Two where wearing some form of hazmat suits, pure white with a logo he couldn't really make out, and they where working at something across from him... The pod. He remembered now, the pods the cold, they where trying to get into Nora's pod.

He looked closer his vision getting better every minute, these people were not Vault-Tec. He studied them for any information he could get, then he noticed the gun in the third mans hand, this was not Vault-Tec.

He started pounding on the glass as hard as he could with his rigid, rigamortus limbs, punching at the porthole he reopened his wounded knuckles and spread blood all over the window. At last though the strangers got the pod open, Never looking at him as they moved in on his wife.

"Is it over? Are we okay?" Nora questioned between coughs. She clearly didn't see the gun or Nate, she probably couldn't see anything yet.

"Almost." Explained the armed man calmly. "Everything going to be just fine ma'am, we came to help. Hand us the baby then we'll help you down."

One of the hazmat s began reaching for Shaun, but Nora wouldn't give insisting she could handle him. Nate began to scream to her but try as he may his voice wouldn't work so he beat on the glass with all of his might.

"I'm not giving you Shaun get away from me!" She shouted as the struggle got more intense, the woman backed off but the man wasn't going to loose.

"I'm only going to ask you one last time, give us the kid, Now." He said, Nate knew that tone, only killers had it and this guy pulled it off.

He brought down the sights of his gun on Nora, Nate finally was able to to scream to his wife.

"NORA!"

"Nate?"

And with that the man fired, the bullet impacted right in her chest. She went limp with shock leaving the woman only a moment to catch the falling Shaun and fell back into the pod gasping and crying out .

Nate pounded on the pod as hard as he could painting the porthole red and screaming like a mad man but to no avail. She was so close and he couldn't reach her, he broke down to tears as he watched his wife's suffering.

Shaun wailed at the sound of the shot and the man ordered them to get him out of the area. The murderer closed the pod and the computer signaled refreezing. Then for the first time he looked at Nate dead in the eye. Balding grey hair and a metal arm casing, a large scar across his left eye, but the part that Nate really cared about was the eyes, cold unfeeling, he didn't care.

* * *

"At least we still have the backup." He announced only now glaring at Nate.

"I'm gonna FUCKING kill you." Nate growled furiously pounding on the door.

The man began walking away leaving Nate trapped in the pod, and dropping some parting words for his effort. "We'll see I suppose... We will see." He said turning off the lights as he went and re initializing the cryo-pods.

"I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU" He howled from the darkness.

The machine began pumping the fluid and the temperature dropped, he was refreezing and he knew it.

 ** _"5...4...3..."_**

"I will kill them all."

 ** _"...2...1"_**

OoOoOoOoOoO

 _ **"Critical failure in Cryogenic array. All Vault residents must vacate the area**_ ** _immediately"_**

He was awake and alive, or he had assumed so, Nora!

Pushing against the thick fog of his mind he begged it to let him think and his muscles to move so he could get to her, but it only strained him worse. Though without his help the pod opened automatically, dumping him onto the cold metal floor blind and stiff, he crawled towards her with all the will he had left.

Who knows how long he sat there at the foot of her pod, hours, days maybe. He cried and he wailed and screamed and he cursed god as if it would do something, but by the end he was left sitting there alone in a grave yard.

He probably would have starved there if he had not been brought back by a single desperate thought in his tortured mind, Shaun.

They had his son and he still needed to kill them, he needed to save his son. Nora might have been gone but Shaun was not and he needed his father, now more than ever.

So he stood up on his dead legs and he opened his eyes tears still streaming and he pushed the pain down and he started to limp towards the door.

But stopped in his tracks, Ben was here too. He would need help to save his son and he couldn't leave his friend here, speaking of which, why had his pod opened and not everybody else?

His grief was out weighed by curiosity for a brief moment.

Looking into one of the pods he found the occupant looking wrong, bent and limp like thawed meat. Checking the panel it read " _critical failure"_.

The next pod was the same and the next, but but finally he found one still working, his neighbor Mr. Able, was inside and frozen. The panel confirmed this pod was still operational and set to open in... 2300.

What was going on?

He checked the one across the way and another and they all had the same date set. How had his opened if they where all set to the same date, and why where so many people dead?

 _ **"Critical failure in Cryogenic array. All Vault residents must vacate the area**_ ** _immediately"_** Repeated the Robotic voice overhead, as if to answer his question.

The pods where failing leaving the person inside to thaw and die. But as he thought about it is seemed more like leaving them to remain dead.

He checked his chest to confirm the theory and sure enough he had burns where the electrodes had been. "The body can't survive being frozen like this," He thought. "But The I.V. must have pumped us full of... some kind of preservatives? That induced a state of cardiac arrest. And when the pods thaw they restart our hearts as well."

He wasn't a scientist but it sounded right to him. It explained why he felt to terrible and how they survived being frozen, because they didn't really survive at all.

His pod must have broken in a different way than the others so it ejected him rather than leaving him dead. Moving past the violation of human rights Vault-Tec had committed by not telling them all this he came back to needed Ben.

Unfortunately once he got to the pod that should have contained his friend he got confused.

It was open and empty like his. He hadn't heard or seen Ben yet so when had he gotten out? Nate poured over the panel for any information there was.

 _Occupant:_ _None_

 _Unit Status:_ _Operational_

 _Last_ _Operational: N/A_

 _Release Date Set: 1/1/2300_

 _Last opened: 6/23/2286_

2286? This thing had to be broken right? Where the hell did Ben go?

If he got out then he would have let Nate out, unless these things where locked, of course they where locked. But then how did they get Nora's open? He didn't have time for all these questions he needed to find Shaun and Ben then-.

His train of thought was interrupted by blood, his blood of course nobody else was in the was dripping onto the panel he now rested his hands on. His knuckles had remained split and kept bleeding once revived.

He jumped back to Nora's pod intent on looking at the shot, clean into the chest it defiantly hit her heart. But she was alive when the pod re froze her, then it killed her anyways like the pod normally would.

So if he could get her wounds sealed then all they would have to do is restart her heart like the pod would do on another person.

"HOLY FUCK. NORA..." He screamed ecstatic, he could still save her. Placing his hands on the glass he looked her over once more. "I'm gonna save you baby. I can still save you."

But he knew the pods where breaking, if hers gave out while he was gone she would stay dead and there was nothing he could do, time was of the essence.

The pods where breaking in succession towards the back like rot spreading through wood, one by one. Checking the 'last operational' dates gave a rough four months between failures of each. Four more pods in line before Nora gave him a year or more to get help, plenty of time.

"Time to get moving... Don't worry baby, I'm going to save you, and I'll get Shaun back."

He tried to release Mr. Able, if only to have someone else in this frozen hell with him but the computer confirmed his theory about the lock. _**"Cryo-unit manual release overruled by**_ ** _overseers office, have a Nice day"_** He was alone for now.

Clearly he was going to have to show himself the way out because looking around the place gave him the impression it was abandoned, what with all the cob webs and dripping.

He stepped across the frozen floor as quiet as he could, it felt wrong to disturb the silence. Making his way the bulkhead like door he flipped the switch entering the hall to the Vault door.

Walking past the other cryo rooms he tried to come up with a plan, for he need a plan with so much to do. Ben, then a doctor and then find Shaun while they helped Nora, in that order.

The path was cut off by a wall of ice, a burst pipe must have sent water into the hall to freeze and it froze, this place really was falling apart at the seams. He would need to find another way out.

Backtracking he found a door that lead to a restricted area and entered as he had no other option. Going down a flight of stairs he found himself in what must have been the staff area, ancient blood stained the beds and everything was overturned or broken. What happened to these people.

Continuing deeper into the staff quarters only lead to more questions, broken glass, dried blood, and dust covered the kitchen along with the occasional body. The 'bodies' where really just dried bones in a loose old vault suit but they didn't die from old age no, the suit was covered in bullet holes, the only gun in the vault he knew of was his ten millimeter though, digging through the dust and finding a spent magazine confirmed it.

No point in morning the people who he didn't know and they had screwed him too, putting him in a pod like a display. He left the room.

Soon he found himself at the main reactors, they where on there last legs by the looks of them.

Copper wiring burning up and sending stray bolts loose off of the coils and across the room the Vault was almost done. Running through the middle of them was not a good idea, he had taken more than his fair share of shock therapy in his life so he crept along the outer rim slowly until at the other side, where he found another one of the staff.

He knew how long it took a body to decompose in normal temperatures and it was freezing in the vault which would slow that even further. They had to be old, fully dried and decrepit. And he too was killed by Nate's gun.

He realized though that even with what Vault-Tec had done he really did feel bad about these deaths. He introduced the weapon into this environment where it never should have been, but they chose to use it in the end, not him.

Going up another set of stairs was at last in the 'overseer' office, and with it he found the overseer. Another dead body in a chair with a hole in his head and yet another pile of bodies at the adjacent door. There must have been some kind of mutiny and he used Nate's gun to end it, then himself.

Nate walked up and found his gun on the floor with a thick layer of dust on it, he picked it up and placed it in his belt then searched the office. A few boxes of ammo rested on the desk, maybe it wasn't his gun after all, as well as a few stimpaks.

The overseer must have been hoarding judging by the stockpiled food and ammo. On the floor by the bodies he found a baton and pack of cigarettes taking both.

He had planned to use the Overseers terminal to unlock the pods but that idea was ruined by a bullet hole through the computer leaving all but useless. He would need to find someone who could open the pods soon though, he couldn't leave them all trapped.

He took a few more moments to scavenge the room, looking at a sort of storage and spotted the box with his name but the door was locked.

It should have felt wrong to search the overseers body but he needed the key and these bastards lied to him about the vault they didn't deserve his sympathy, but of course he didn't find it, that left only one place to look.

Doing a full search of the mans bedroom brought forth the item in question, veil of med-X from his dresser, and a rather large stash of porn of unusual, wrong fetishes.

Of course the overseer was a drug fiend and a perv but he couldn't really blame him, the world had ended. Nate didn't have a use for morphine any more so he threw it at the wall and continued to the lock up.

Opening the gate he quickly grabbed the box, his fathers lighter and the wedding rings and the tags where all that was in there. So it had been his gun.

He replaced his dog tags, it had felt wrong to have them removed, and he was eased by the cold metal touching his chest. Nora's ring weighed heavily in his palm though.

She never took it off, not for the dish's or work or gardening so nether would he. He put a ring on both his ring fingers, they wouldn't come off until he gave it back to her in person.

Something on the wall caught his eye before he left. In a bullet-proof case was a weapon unlike any he had ever seen. A large gun that was by no means refined looking rested inside. Pipes feeding towards the muzzle read 'Liquid Nitrogen', it must have been some sort of, for lack of a better word freeze gun.

The only thing stopping him from claiming was the case worked on a six digit combination and he doubted the overseer wrote it down. No point in waiting around for something he couldn't get.

As went to leave a noise scared the hell out of him, whipping around to the source he found the overseer had fallen over, and a Pip-Boy fell from his wrist and slid across the floor.

Nate had always wanted a Pipboy and this one was 3000 Mk-IV, the newest version to date. Rather than the alphabetical series that most people had with the glove and metal prong, the numerical series focused more on the user their self than previous versions.

It was supposed to be able to measure your 'traits' and vitals', as well as all the other handy things they where know for. He wanted it.

Picking it up he searched the overseers desk for a paperclip finding it and, along the way, finding another Stimpak. Jamming them both into a pocket on the jumpsuit belt he stepped over the body pile at the door and walked down the tunnel.

To his relief he was now at the vault door, and on the control panel he found a Note and a marker scribble that said "Opens door" written on the dash with an arrow pointing to a large red button. He recognized the handwriting as Ben's and quickly read the Note.

 _Hey Nate, Jesus where do I start. I'm alive and awake, there. The other pods are still on and I can't get you or anybody else out so I guess I'm alone. Your pod says it will release in 2287, that I guess is a year form now so I'll be back to get you then._

 _I saw Nora,_

 _God Nate I am so sorry this happened to you. When we all woke up I couldn't see her but I could see your pod, had a clear view of you bashing in your hands to save her and I'm so sorry but you couldn't do anything Nate, I know your blaming yourself but you couldn't have saved her. I know Shaun is gone and I'm leaving to try and find him before you wake up._

 _-Benjamin Montgomery_

 _Also I spent almost 30 mins trying to open this damn door, it turns out its the big red button I was afraid to press just so you know._

At least he knew Benjamin was alive, and he left the vault in search of his Godson. He said he would be back, god only knew what had kept him. But why had his pod been set early?

Nate pressed the button Ben marked and the door came to life.

 _ **"Vault Door cycling sequence initiated, Please stand back."**_

The metallic arm lowered and a bolt sunk into the massive cog, Nate could see sparked fly off in the orange emergence light and after an ear piercing screech the door was open. He walked along the ever extending walkway and down the stairs, it seemed like ages ago that he had been here with Nora.

Pressing a button the gate lifted and in a few seconds the elevator would move, stepping on an with a deafening groan of the machines under the pad lifted it. It sounded like it had not been used in an eternity.

 _ **"Enjoy your return to the surface, and thank you for choosing Vault-Tec"**_

If he ever in his life came to a point where he needed Vault Tec again, he would rather take the Nuke.

He supposed It would take a few minutes to reach the surface so he began playing with his new Pipboy.

The only reason they Mk IV's where not more popular was the metal spikes. He could see they didn't retract yet as as the previous user never told it to do so what with his apparent suicide.

The trade off for more accurate scans was that five metal needles would need to sink into the skin, flesh, muscle, bone and an artery to get the readings, this deterred most people as it just wasn't worth it.

But Nate hardly cared, he wouldn't feel it at all and this was a fine piece of technology. Digging out the paperclip he had grabbed he inserted it into the small reset hole on the back. Once the reset was in motion the spikes retreated and the signature vault boy came on screen to wave goodbye before it was complete.

He placed it on his wrist, fastening the latch and held the power button, in a moment the screen was back on and read _"initializing"._

He sensed the spikes insert into his arm but it caused no pain and the wrist guard began to inflate until firm on his arm at a comfortable pressure, he was sure it was a blood pressure sleeve as well. The screen went wild with code before he got the thumbs up.

It showed a quick tutorial that he couldn't skip telling him all there was to know about the machine. Each of the needles read a different system that all fell under the RobCo "S.P.E.C.I.A.L" scale.

From what he read, Strength of instance, was measured by a body Muscle/Fat ratio found through one of the needles combined with heart rate and blood pressure from the built in blood pressure cuff that held the Pipboy in place.

All the other statistics where loose at best from what he read and measured things similarly. Not all the stats could be measured by the body of course, and they where left blank to be determined or tested later.

The Pipboy read: Strength 7, Perception 7, Endurance 10, Charisma T.B.D, Intelligence T.B.D, Agility 8, Luck ?

Nate could only guess how one could measure Luck but the others made sense as he was in the military and him keeping himself in good health. it looked like by RobCo's standards he was in above average shape.

Heart rate, blood pressure, fatigue, Blood alcohol content, it was all there it even showed damage done to the body displayed on a little vault boy. He was in perfect health at the moment besides a high blood pressure and cold temperatures. But the time caught his eye in an instant, date really, 19:39 EST 9/23/2287.

"Jesus Crist." He had been frozen for over two hundred years.

A thunderous noise sent him back to reality once again, he drew his pistol in a flash and frantically scanned the platform for the source. As it turned out a Tv had fallen into the elevator shaft from the now opening hatch door above. Luckily it didn't crush him.

He took a moment to calm himself and glance at the Pipboy to see how high his heart rate jumped but was rather, drawn to a ticking sort of noise. The Geiger counter.

The bombs how could he have forgotten about the god damn atomic war nobody was up there to help him or Nora what was the point?

No, there must have been people, who had come for Shaun and shot Nora? They had to come from somewhere and Benjamin had to have gone somewhere. There was life there must have been after all it had been over two hundred years right? That last part bugged him deeply but he ignored it for now.

Checking his the Geiger counter once again it turned out he had jumped to conclusions, there was in fact, a minimal amount of radiation dispersed through the air. It was not nearly enough to harm him from what he knew, it probably could only harm a group of people over generations if at all.

Almost to the top of the shaft he steeled himself for what he might find, what was left of the world he had been hidden away form, but nothing could have prepared him for what he found in that dark night.

"God, how could we let this happen" He asked himself as he looked out over the area.

"You know I ponder that same question every time I walk outside." Responded a voice from behind. Nate froze, slowly he reached for his gun. "No need for that friend, I ain't a raider. Come over to the fire and lets talk."

Against his better judgement Nate let go of the gun, if for no other reason than they had the drop on him and could shoot before he even turned around. He turned and saw a camp fire ten yards away and a figure sitting by it with what looked to be a cow tied off to a tree, he decided to take a seat and see what this person had to say.

"Good choice."

* * *

 **Second Chapter, hope you liked it.**

 **Call out to "MAGAust" for telling me to fix the first chapters. Hope they're better now. Anyways, what do you think happened too Ben? Dm your thoughts because I think its fun.**

 **By the way shout out To "Fallout-Man101" for the amazing review, thank you for the support and I'm glad you like it.**


	3. Way back in my Home town

_**T**_ _ **his is a little different from the game but I think this wouldn't be a very good story if It wasn't.**_

 _ **Third re work. Not going to lie, I'm ashamed of some of this spelling.**_

 _ **Its like I was drunk.**_

 **Way Back in My Home Town**

* * *

Cautiously, he inched his way to the fire.

He had no idea what might be waiting in that wavering light but the person seemed friendly enough, so he kept the gun on his belt. For the moment.

Once he was finally within the ever changing ring of light he got a clear view of the speaker. An older man leaning up against a tree.

He was graying and tired looking with a handlebar mustache, a old, dirty suit hung loosely on his thin frame and he wore a fedora to match.

"Glad to see you finally got the balls to come over, sit my friend the meat is almost done." The man insisted.

Nate took a seat on a log as the man pulled an unknown meat away from the fire. "I had intended to eat the whole thing myself but I'm more than happy to share." He chuckled, eyeing the crispy kebab lovingly. "Now, you have just exited a vault as it seems. Tell me, how do you feel?" Questioned the man. Handing him a chunk of the meat.

He pondered the question a moment.

He had been so busy with Ben and Shaun, getting out of the vault and- and Nora... He hadn't given himself time to think about all that had happened. His wife had been shot in front of him, his son had been kidnapped for Christ sake and now he was two hundred years in the future eating with a old man and his... What the hell was wrong with his cow?

"Well I'm just great." He bitched. It was rude, that much was true and this man didn't deserve to be treated like this. But he didn't really care what anybody deserved.

The man just showed slight sympathy, regardless of Nate's rudeness; His eyes urged him to elaborate.

"My Son is gone. My best friend is missing and my Wife... God my WIFE IS DEAD IN A FREEZER." He wailed. "And now I'm here, with you, and your two headed cow because why the fuck wouldn't there be a cow with two head. God I must have died and went to hell. Why does your cow have two heads?" He pleaded.

"Oh, Misty? Well she sir is my Brahmin. I don't suppose you would have ever seen a Brahmin before, this world is very different from the one you left behind. And I can assure you, your are not dead yet Nate Howard." The man chuckled.

Nate's despair was halted by the hearing of his name. It had been two hundred years since it was last used he assumed. This man was old but not that old.

"How do you know my name? Who are you?"

"Forgive me I get ahead of my self easily." He chuckled out again. The laughing put him on edge, and slowly, slowly enough not to be noticed, Nate inched his hand towards his gun. But the man just proceeded.

"My name is Miles Stockton, though most just call me 'The Old Man'. I am the owner of multiple caravan throughout the commonwealth based at Bunker hill. I was sent here to greet you by our mutual friend Mr. Montgomery."

Nate perked up at the mention of his friend "You know Ben? Where is he why didn't he meet me here?" He demanded, now loosing his grip on the 10mm.

"Well Mr. Montgomery is an associate of mine," Stockton explained. "He owes me a favor and I called it in, leaving him unable to come meet you. He made a deal with me though. I come here to greet you and give you a hand, and he holds his end of the deal." Stockton finished.

Nate was put at ease by his words but left with more questions, it seemed to be a trend today.

"How do you know Ben?" Nate asked, finally taking a bite out of the meat. It was gamy and tough but would quell his pained stomach.

"Well, Benjamin is a gun for hire nowadays." Stockton divulged, taking a bite before continuing.

"He happens to live in Bunker hill next to my home. A good neighbor if I might say, and an even better gun. He works as a hand for me at times as well as a guard for my daughter."

Seeing Nate's face at the words 'gun for hire' he knew he would have to clarify.

"He takes odd jobs for cash you see, guarding, intimidation, repossession... and sometimes bounty hunting." He added at the end with a nod and yet another chuckle. Probably remembering some humorous story involving it.

Nate simply took a moment to stew on all this.

Many military men went into jobs like those mentioned, but bounty hunting was new.

Had he forgotten about Shaun? Or did he simply stop caring. Had he missed coming to get Nate for one job. Nate decided to ask before jumping to conclusions. After all Stockton seemed friendly enough.

"What favor did you ask him for that could have kept him from coming himself?"

"Well..." Began the cheerful old man. Not seeming the least bit offended by Nate's clear preference towards his friend.

"For starters favors are important in his line of work. A man is only as good as his word." But he very quickly became serious. "My daughters was on a caravan when it got attacked by raiders. Nobody can find her or the others. So I sent Benjamin to find her, I would trust nobody else. You would be alive in that vault regardless, my daughter might not be so lucky."

"I understand," Nate offered, for he really did. He would do anything to find Shaun and this man was no different. "God look at all this, the world." He said gesturing around "I've only been back in it an hour and I'm already scared. War, kidnappings, hired guns and raiders. What happened to humanity?" Nate wondered aloud.

"Nothing happened Nathaniel... This is humanity." Stockton said looking deeply into the fire. "It is always easy to be a good person when its convenient. That's why the world was, the way it was two hundred years ago. It was easy to live in. Comparatively. Being good when things are hard is not easy; but that's when it counts the most."

Nate listened to Miles words intently, this man was wise beyond his years and it often paid to listen to wise men.

"You see Nate people are effected by their environment. This world is not safe or good anymore. With the Minutemen now gone it is darker than ever and it will drive more and more people to evil, any light that shines they will try to snuff out because it reminds them of what they should be but are not." Stockton finished.

They sat silently after that for a few minutes. It was a very good explanation, but it hardly made him fell any better. How far had the world fallen? And how had they not picked themselves up after so long?

"Now I must be getting on my way back to bunker hill soon." Stockton suddenly exclaimed. " As per Ben and I's arrangement I have sent my guards to clear out your old neighborhood. He wishes you to stay their until he is able to meet you. He also sent me along with some things for you." Stockton said standing up.

He walked to his, cow... And promptly pulled off a large trunk which fell to the ground. with a metallic thud.

"These are prepaid and now are yours. My guards will be along any minute now so if you have any question now is the time to ask."

Nate panicked at the lack of time. But some questions where at he front of the list, and he needed to ask the right ones. Starting with something simple. "What do I need to watch out for?"

"Animals are always dangerous, anything that lives in the wastes has to be dangerous to survive. The things you know have changed greatly over time, take my Brahmin for instance, a mutated cow." He explained waving a hand towards the monstrous Bullvine. "It now has two heads and is capable of carrying three thousand pounds." Nate was shocked but Stockton continued.

"Everything is deadly Nate and most will attempt to kill you as food is scarce. People as well; raiders, as I have mentioned and other human like creatures. Slaver are particularly nasty. They've only recently crept into the Commonwealth since the Minutemen fell, they always like Vault Meat so watch out." Stockton answered.

Ignoring the 'Vault meat' comment he asked his next question"Is all the radiation gone?"

"Certainly not, though it is not deadly in most places. Some hot spots still exist and the water and food is full of it, but with that thing on your wrist you'll know immediately where they are, unlike SOME PEOPLE we know."

The 'some people' confused Nate but he continued. Next would be Nora.

"Are there any Doctors capable of closing a Cardiovascular wound left?" He would need to know for the future.

"I don't know why you ask but the only people I can think of are the Institute. Though I hear there are some talented people left around the commonwealth."

Another good question. There couldn't just be raiders, good people like Stockton and Ben still existed. So where?

"Where are all the people? You said you lived at the old monument, Bunker hill."

"Settlements are all over the wasteland though the larger ones that are left are Bunker hill, Goodneighbor, Diamond city and Lock down. People nowadays don't like to build their own, rather fortify whats left."

Nate had an idea, he had countless questions but he didn't want to waist any time, he needed the important stuff that he might not think of. "What do you think I should know?"

"Hmmmm, you are a smart man Mister Howard..." Stockton smiled. "Bottle caps are the main currency but people will always try to screw you so haggle. Synths are not all dangerous regardless of what some people say. Water is better than gold up here, though down south it's all clean apparently. And I hope you know how to shoot because there are no more laws or police to protect you, you got a problem or somebody's got one with you death is the most common answer."

After that Stockton's men arrived back and reported. "Damn place was full of bugs but we cleaned it out, we heard some crazy old robot but as long as we didn't try to enter its house it was fine."

"A mister handy?" Nate blurted out, causing the men to jump.

"Don't know, all we heard was it yelling inside a house so we steered clear, you should too."

It couldn't be a coincidence, Codsworth was still there.

"Alright boys it's time to head home. Goodbye Mr Howard, I hope to see you again." Stockton said beginning to leave.

But looking them over once more before they where gone, Nate spotted something on the cow that he would need.

"Before you go! How much for the book?" He asked.

It was large and hand drawn, a scull brandish the front and it looked rather new.

"What?" He relpied, rather confused. But soon he caught Nate's gaze. "Ah, The Wasteland Survival Guide. One hundred caps but you don't have that much yet I'm sure." He said turning away again.

"I can trade you Two Stimpaks." He shouted back.

Stockton turned with a smile. "Five."

"Three."

"Deal." He said pulling the book from the pile. Nate passed him the Stims. " Best be careful with those though, they're worth a lot. Pleasure doing businesses with you." Stockton smiled

And with that he left down the trail with his men.

He shouted for one last answer before Miles was gone. "Stockton, What kind of meat was that?"

"Dog!" He shouted back.

Nate was left alone At the fire, with his book, a package from Ben and horror of the meat.

After a moment of gagging he figured it would be best to get... home. He slung the box under his arm, it was incredibly heavy, and walked out of the Vault park.

He crossed the ancient rusted chain fence and there they where. Hundreds of bones littered the dirt hill, all the people he cut in line, his neighbors and friends, the man he beat to death and his kids all for what? His family was gone to.

Nate crept through the boneyard silently, he tried maintain reverent and ignore the pain in his soul. But soon he was though and walking down the lazy, ancient dirt path towards Sanctuary. HE examined the dark woods around him, what kind of animals lived in them now?

Most of the trees where dead and burned, save a few smaller ones. They had purple and red leaves and where just saplings, they glowed in the dark.

Must have been mutations he supposed. He wondered what it would have done to living things after all this time. It was almost amazing enough to take his mind off of things. Almost.

As he walked he thought about all Stockton has said. Raiders, monsters and radiation mutants? If he hadn't been awake so long he would have thought this all a nightmare.

In fact thinking about everything directly made it all to much to handle. So he changed subjects to avoid it as long a possible.

Why was all the water clean south? What did Stockton mean when he said Synth? How much of humanity was left? And who took Shaun?

He tossed a few of those questions around but once again found thinking about them would only send him spiraling into madness or depression and avoided thinking all together. And finally he found himself at his neighborhood, and it was decimated.

The houses left standing where hole ridden and foul. All the glass had been gone for ages and trash was in piles on the street, how it got there he didn't know.

Burnt out cars lay dead in the road and roots grew through what was left of the pavement. Ever street light had fallen somehow and a toilet was outside a house. Who would have moved it?

He walked up the sidewalk until he stood at his mailbox, the faint word Howard was left on the rusted tin. Nora had painted it all those years ago.

Overall his home was the best on the block. "Just like always." He smiled.

Tears welling in his eyes, he was home. Only he had made it, truly.

It had a few windows left and the ones that where broken had been boarded up. His door was still there and holes in the roof had been patched. His car was still parked in his driveway and the dead hedges where cut uniform. He walked up to the door but didn't know what to do.

So he knocked.

The knock echoed through the dark house and after a moment he heard movement inside.

 ** _"Who ever it is would you kindly SOD OFF, the Mr and Mrs are away. Who the hell knocks anymore."_**

The tears had finally broken his eyes Codsworth was still here. Waiting for them.

He let himself in but the house was pitch black, so he turned the brightness of the Pipboy all the way up and used it as a flashlight of sorts. The accessory was surprisingly versatile.

If the outside of his home had shocked him, the inside bent his mind. Nothing was ruined, it was his house after all.

The living room was much like how he left it. The kitchen windows where boarded up and dust caked everything but other than that it was fine; the TV was intact as was all the furniture, though a few things where missing. Family photos and heirlooms where gone off the shelf's oddly enough. Sadly he figured they must have been stolen.

But it didn't matter, they where just objects after all, or so he told himself. What really mattered was Codsworth.

He slowly searched the house careful not to just bump into the robotic butler, one swipe from that saw and it was over.

And he found him in the laundry room; only shambles on the floor.

His jet had probably run out of fuel a long time ago. He should have just Re-fueled at the tank, Nate had bought a lifetime supply. But he supposed a lifetime had passed by now. The robot simply couldn't be expected to find more alone with Nate's last order, guard the house.

 ** _"What part of leav-"_** Codsworth started, one eye rising to examine the threat. But it pulled back in shock after adjusting to the light. **_"as I livE AND BREATH!"_** He exclaimed in a tearful tone.

It was heartbreaking to see how happy he was ot finally have his master return, Nate even teared up again. The robot lifted his limp arms to try and hug his master, Nate knelled down and embraced him as best as he could, careful to avoid getting hurt.

"Codsworth... My god buddy" Nate gasped, he could hardly breath.

 _ **"I can hardly believe you came back, after a hundred and Thirty years I started to worry."**_ Codsworth stated seemingly composed himself. It looked like his life was complete again. _ **"Where is the missus, is she with you?"**_

The question hit Nate like a cinder block.

"She's, well Codz shes gone. For now... But I will get her back I promises" Nate promised.

 _ **"Gone to stay with the sister huh? Well where is Shaun then, I've missed the boy. He must be grown by now, surly as strong and honorable as his father."**_

The irony was that Nora's sister Grace had died before they where married, so in a way she was with her sister... For now.

"Shaun's been kidnapped Codsworth. I'm going to get him back." Nate said, actually vocalizing his promises to somebody.

 _ **"Kidnapped, Well I suppose we better find the man responsible. Don't Bother calling the police though, I did with the first few looters and got NUTHING Suh.**_

He got thinking. He would need help, and all he had for the moment was Codsworth. But Mr. Handy's where just Gutsy's domesticated. A simple setting change would make him as useful as his Anchorage counterpart in a fight. And, if Nate was lucky, he could find a Gutsy Plasma caster to give the Butler.

 _ **"Kidnapped, Well I suppose we better find the man responsible. Don't Bother calling the police though, I did with the first few looters and got NUTHING Suh. Don't believe they make house calls anymore. But come lets have dinner. You Haven't eaten in Two-hundred and ten years Suh, and I believe we can fetch a Prime Roast if we hurry alone to the store."**_ He chuckled trying to drag himself to the kitchen.

Nate knew something was wrong, Codsworth couldn't just be fine after all that emotion he had shown. He was trying to seem stable for his master.

"Codsworth are you alright? Don't lie to me. That's an order." The robot seemed to want to hold back but broke very quickly.

 ** _"I... I...Oh Suh Its been AWFUL!_** **Two _Hundred Years With No one TO Talk To, NO ONE TO_** ** _SERVE"_** He screamed, clearly distraught

 ** _"I Spent the first Eighty YEARS trying to keep the floors waxed, But nothing gets out Atomic fallout from vinyl, NOTHING."_** He continued.

Nate wondered how well he could have coped alone. But he clearly hadn't at all.

 _ **"Don't even get me started on the futility of dusty a collapsed house, And the Car, The CAR! HOW DO YOU POLISH RUST?.. I finally gave up after the fuel ran out some, twenty years ago and now I'm here. General Atomic's pride crawling on the floors to try and trim the hedges."**_

It almost broke his heart how self aware the Robot could be. He was sure it was painful to simply wait, in whatever capacity Codsworth could feel pain.

"Don't worry buddy I'm back now. I'll find you some fuel soon and then we will get Shaun back." Nate said trying to calm the robot. "I have to change some setting though, so stay still."

Nate pulled a screwdriver from his tool box as it was still there in the Laundry room. Codsworth had done a remarkable job keeping the house in order even after two hundred years, and a bomb. He started removing the plate covering the server of the old robot and as he did so examined him.

Time had clearly done a number on the metal. The hull was rusted to a dull gray and brown and he had a number of bullet holes on him. One of his eyes was gone as well and dents littered him.

"Codsworth, what happened to you?" Nate inquired as he began on the last screw.

 _ **"Well suh, the people are no longer the friendliest."**_ He must have been talking about the raiders.

" **After** **you and the Missus left the world must have ended, people would come looting from time to time but I would chase them from the property. Some of the Wankers would shoot or hit me with bats, but General Atomic international didn't build me soft."** He laughed filled with that same Pre programmed pride.

Finally he got the plate off, but he remembered he would need to take him to a employee to change settings. No more stores existed he thought sadly. But as he looked at the plug port, suddenly idea sparked and he examined the Pipboy.

The import cable had three ends, and one was a perfect fit. RobCo thought these things through. He inserted the cord in and after a moment of computing he was in Codsworth's CPU.

He opened the targeting parameters and with a few switches, copyright, safety, and warranty warnings made it so Codsworth would attack anybody who showed hostile intent or was marked by Nate with relative ease. Lucky The interface was very user friendly. Thus turning him into a friendly Mr Gutsy.

He left the personality subroutines as the lovable Brit Rather than the enraged drill Sargent, it reminded him of Nora. But he turned off some personality traits that made him so emotionally distraught for good.

"Alright Codsworth I'm going to find you some fuel, I'll be back soon." Nate said with a smile.

 ** _"Don't worry suh I'll still be here, on the floor, ALONE."_** Codsworth yelled in a whiny voice. Nate rolled his eyes and exited the house.

All the joy of seeing his robot again vanished as he gazed upon the ruined world. But regardless he started searching the neighborhood remembering the Ables had a Handy of their own. He turned left and walked to their home just three houses next door.

Codsworth had never been fond of his neighboring handy, said the Australian accent put him on edge. He entered the decrepit public safety hazard silently and found the carcass of a massive Roach easily the size of his arm. These must have been the bugs Stockton's men spoke of.

Nate marveled at the insect for a moment pondering how it could have grown so large, the radiation was the only explanation he could come up with. But even that didn't fully make sense. So he pushed past it, staring wouldn't answer questions

Their living room was a shambles, Flipped couches and burned tables. It looked like a squatters den. He hoped though that they weren't still here. Going down the hall of peeling wallpaper he stumbled upon what was left of an egg clutch that sickened him. But the men had burned them out with fire so no more of the foul roaches would ever live to hatch.

Nate found the robot destroyed in a ruined bathroom, clearly it had been shot to death.

The fuel was in the closet and Nate picked up two of the massive tanks. One could last forty years with regular movement. Nate had four at his home so if they moved constantly these would last twenty years each? Who really knew though. He would just take them and hope they lasted the rest of his life, but he could always try to find more.

He also removed one of the intact eyes from the dead automaton with his screw driver, careful to remember how to put it back on for Codsworth. To keep his hands free he placed it on his vault belt with the aid of a hook.

Hauling them home was simple as walking and soon was attaching the new eye eye to his friend, who was elated to have full vision again insisting 360 degrees of vision was imperative.

He screwed it into the hing and plunged it in, enjoying watching Codsworth dilated it like a new toy. After that Nate fueled him up, the Handy could do it himself but only if he was floating above the tank, he used his lighter he ignited the gas like he would a grill. The massive fireball that resulted would dissuaded him next time.

Soon as the robot was hovering again but all the dust in the room sprung up with him.

 _ **"Terribly sorry suh, I shall begin cleaning at once. The house shall shine like the SUN when I'm done with it."**_ Codsworth yelled over Nate's coughs, he flew out into the hall. But before truly departing said one last thing. **_"Its good to have you back home Suh, and thank you."_**

Nate stood soon and in a moment found himself in Shaun's room, He didn't know why he wandered there of all places but he did.

The windows where all boarded up with plywood, god only knew where Codsworth got it. In the faint light he could still see, on the floor, his son's basic toys. Books and puzzles Nora had bought for him despite his age. She insisted there son would be a genius; but he never really cared what he would be like, He would always be proud of his child.

He almost smiled at the memory, until he looked over the crib.

It lay vacant and gloomy in the corner with the paint gone and the mobile broken.

Nate couldn't keep himself from crying, this room brought back too many painful memory's of his family. He fled the babies room shutting the door behind him, he wiped his tears away and promised himself once again to save his son. All he had where the promises.

He walked into the living room and sat himself on the couch slowly as to not cause another dust explosion. Pulling the lock box from Ben to his feet and undoing the latch he found many things inside but most important he found a letter from Ben. He began reading the letter silently and Codsworth busied himself cleaning and humming.

 _Nate._

 _Hope you made it out safe, I suppose there is always the chance your pod failed before you got out._

 _Never mind, f_ _or now lets just say you did for the point of conversation._

 _Inside the box is everything I could afford to get you here in Bunker Hill, use it all regardless of how you feel._

 _-The armor is not going to stop a bullet but it can still save you._

 _-Ditch the vault suit because it might get you killed._

 _-Ration the water, its clean and not much of its left clean._

 _-And lastly don't go outside._

 _I'll be there in a few days but Stockton called in a favor and I can't say no. Love you buddy._

 _P.S. Don't freak out when you see me but I got some new scars, the safe word is Anchorage._

Nate laughed at the Antics of his friend, safe words and house arrest where just his style. But was left to wondered what kind of scars could leave Ben to think Nate wouldn't recognize his best friend. Regardless he dug through the box to find the gifts.

A leather harness studded and reinforced along the ribs with a stop sign. Leather thigh, shin, arm and forearm guards to match with a metal bar down the outer thigh and upper arm. A double barrel shotgun sawed off at the base with three dozen shells. Two I.V.s labeled RadAway, god knows what that was. Two more Stimpaks and a Military field medical kit. Six cans of 'Purified Water'. Ancient spam and Instamash in dusty containers. A pair of jeans. A Flannel shirt. And a Winchester Hunting rifle with twenty rounds.

What could be out here that Ben would send all this?

Nate decided to ignore it all for a moment as he was becoming worried again and decided to read his newly purchased book with a can of water. He cracked one open and began the first page of the book.

 _The Wasteland Survive Guide_

 _by Moira Brown and John Ronas (101)._

 _Megaton 2277._

 _Creator_ _side supply_ _original_

 _-Moira Brown_

 _-John Ronas_

He read the title page and found this to be a hand written, signed copy dated twenty-two seventy-seven. Megaton wasn't any town Nate had heard of and 2277, this book was fresh, it would surly have had current advice he could use.

Nate spent the next few hours reading through the book while Codsworth busied himself, and it covered a lot of ground.

Finding supplies, ancient dangers like Robots and mines, radiation sickness to which he also learned the use of the Radaway he had gotten. Mutations which Nate found incredibly interesting, physical damage and repair, how to build a settlement, and what was left of history and in part humanity.

Nate also found an Index of mutations with incredible drawings and notes of each one.

The images scared him. To think that these monsters could be lurking outside in the night would keep him up.

Massive scorpions, all sorts of bugs, Deer, Mirelurks, Yau Qiu which looked like a bear and Nate could only translate to Evil with minimal Chinese. Deathclaws sounded particularly bad but there where no pictures included and the info was vague at best, probably because the authors had never seen one.

He also found distinguishing marks of raiders; Crazy hair, spiked armor, drug use, savage tendency; and what they might do to you... Nate didn't like any of it.

The things that where the worst where the human mutations. Supermutants, centaurs, Abominations and Ghouls.

He was glad he had read all of this as he would have probably shot a sane ghoul on sight for looking like a zombie. But it turned out they where just normal people with radiation exposure, like the Gob of the authors home town.

The idea that humanity could go so far back as to racism and even enslavement because someone looked different disturbed Nate greatly.

The Centaurs where a grotesque monster that would haunt his dreams forever and Supermutants didn't sit well either. The massive humanoids driven by hunger and rage could even grow up to thirty feet tall. they reminded him of old military ideas of super soldiers in a way, with the tough skin and damage resistance.

Once he was sufficiently unnerved he put he book into the trunk, there where more pages but he decided to wait on those.

So he slowly he loaded the weapons Benjamin sent in the silence of the night. Arming himself made him feel safest, even after Anchorage.

He moved it all to his bedroom which by now Codsworth had cleaned and stashed the trunk up against the far wall. It was six AM and he was exhausted, he flipped over the mattress to expose the cleaner side, removed his dirty vault suit and laid on his bed for hours.

He struggled to find sleep, but he lost and finally gave up. It felt wrong without her beside him, he might have teared up but he was to exhausted, emotionally and physically. His bed was out for a while.

So he moved to the couch in his underwear, playing with the Pipboy on his arm. He settled on looking through its ability's. He was lead to a test within the machine to determine his Intelligence score and he began it seeing nothing else to do with Ben not here yet.

The test consisted of ten sections all with twenty questions, each section he passed with sixteen questions right would add a point to the score. After a two hours he finished, not feeling very smart. But the Intelligence score was given, 6. He assumed he was about average.

At some point he finally passed out on the couch from exhaustion and fell into a deep sleep.

OoOoOoO

 _"I'm only going to ask you one last time... give us the kid now."_

 _"I'm not giving you Shaun!"_

 _"NORA!"_

 _"nate?"_

BANG.

Nate was shot awake terrified and reached to protect his wife; only to fall onto the floor of the living room.

He was sweaty and blind trying to find her in the dark but soon remembered all that had happened and gave up. She was gone.

He began his usual method of calming himself after a nightmare, it only took a few moments nowadays. But remembering all that had happened it became impossible.

Nate stood up and banged his toe on the coffee table in the dark but didn't feel it, looking at the Pipboy he found to be 6:20 AM and came to the conclusion he had fucked up his sleep schedule so bad he fixed it.

He struggled to remember what woke him up, it had faded so fast, but settled on it being a dream. It had felt so real, down to the Gun Sho-

 ** _"SUH"_** Codsworth rushed into the room slightly illuminating it with his thruster. **_"There was a GUN SHOT OUTSIDE! wake up."_**

"What?!" He panicked. He wasn't ready for this, he was in his underwear for gods sake.

Rushing past the robot into his room to the trunk, he began digging through it. Soon finding the shirt and pants. As he put the clothes on he heard more gun shots outside and frantically tied the vault boots. On his way to counter a possible attack he stopped realizing he forgot to grab the guns.

He decided on only the rifle and rushed to the door, but before he opened he turned back to Codsworth.

"Guard the house Codz, it might be my last line of defense."

With that he rushed out into the early morning and found nothing, another shot rang out and he traced the noise towards the bridge.

He sprinted along the house's on the other side of the road, careful to always look for cover, and made it to the mouth of the Neighborhood. Peaking around the corner of a collapsed house he found a man pinned down under a mail drop box, and firing from the bridge where what Nate could only think to be raiders, judging by the spiked armor and screams.

Nate had only been in the wasteland for a day, and asleep for half that but he knew a few things. One of which was raiders are the bad guys and deserve death.

There where five of them as he saw it in the dim light, three with guns and the others with... who knew. But he wasn't dumb, he couldn't just rush them, he'd get gunned down before twenty seconds.

He decided to sneak around the house across the street and fire from behind their rusted car. Running as fast as he could across the road he hurdled the ancient white fence and around the back.

Now behind the car he took and knee and a deep breath, now examining the rifle and realizing he made a critical error.

"Five shot bolt action rifle, I forgot to grab more ammo and there are five of them. I guess I can't miss." He spoke clearly to himself.

OoOoOoO

The raiders where so focused on the man behind the mailbox that they didn't notice that the raider in the back had been killed. They probably didn't ever hear the shot over their own.

But after the second, Packer felt the body drop. He turned around to see two of his counterparts dead already.

"STOP" He screamed over the gun fire. The other all stopped slowly, eyeing him like a dumb ass. "GUYS WE GOT A PROBLEM!" His boss was locked on his eyes and he caught fire in her's.

"WE GOT ANOTHER ONE HERE BOYS." Shouted a his boss, she was enraged and clearly scanning the area for the new shooter. "COME ON OUT BUDDY AND WE'LL MAKE IT QUICK."

She signaled for them to move up and they did, her wrath was worse than a bullet and the original pray was not the main threat anymore.

Before the man on the right could make it to the mailbox he was dead, shot through the neck by the sharp shooter. But that was the only mistake the boss needed.

She had watched the gunner pop up from his cover behind a burnt out car to fire, she had him now. He popped up again to fire but before he could take aim the finale two unloaded their guns on the car and he misfired.

The woman ran ahead to halt him. He had fired his gun dry and held the trigger even after the clicking started, he was clearly terrified.

"We rush him, GOT IT." She explained holding his face in line with her's violently. Packer could only nod.

She was in the dirt before her first step toward the car. He had only hear it, it could have been him just as easily. But now real terror set in. He stood in awe as the shooter left his cover, now walking towards him.

He had never been the bravest raider but this man could scare anybody.

Packer dropped to his knees and begged for mercy but the fire in the mans eyes prophesied death.

He wondered if, for a moment, this was how people felt when they saw him.

OoOoOoO

Nate approached the would be raider and already smelled urine, the man had pissed himself. He silenced his begging with a devastating punch to the face but the man continued to whimper in the dirt.

Nate planned to end the animals life and shoot him to death but he had run out of bullets.

The only other option would be to beat him to death. He would kill him.

He pounded the mans head on the pavement to silence him and swung the stock of the rifle like a club at the mans neck but his windpipe endured. The second attempt was met with the same result.

"You reds just keep getting harder to kill." Nate raged.

He raised the gun for a final blow but before he swung he heard her voice.

"Nate, you know this is wrong, you look like an animal!" She protested, enraged.

"WHO SAID THAT?" He demanded frantically looking around.

The raider clearly didn't, the man he saved was unconscious and nobody else was in sight. But on the last glance before dismissing it he saw her, standing up the road.

Even in the happiness he went cold. His subconscious gnawing at him.

"Nora!" He rejoiced dropping the gun, there she was, thirty feet away in a stunning white dress.

The rational part of his brain shut off at seeing her. He ran to her completely forgetting the men behind him, she was alive and she found him. He ran but she only kept getting further away from him.

Soon his brain caught up with him. He finally stopped and it sank in.

"God your not real are you.." He croaked. She wasn't real she couldn't be, his wife was dead "I've finally lost it haven't I?" But the silence tore at him "HAVEN'T I!" He screamed to the ghost.

And just like that she was gone.

He knew she wasn't real in some part of his mind but losing her again was blocking out his logic. "NO... I din't mean it Nora don't go again!" Nate begged tears rolled down his cheeks once again as he pleaded with her to return. But it seemed she was gone.

His rage and sorrow was to great, he needed to get it out and the only thing he had was the raider. Sprinted towards the monstrous creature in a blind fury he was stopped again upon feeling a hand on his shoulder.

He turned and there she was. Instinctively he went to hug her but found nothing.

"Your not real, my Nora is dead in a vault. Who are you?" Nate questioned taking a step back.

"Nate."

"I'm not going to entertain this." He said, but the ghost wouldn't take no for an answer.

She touched him, put her hand on his shoulder and it felt real, more real than anything he had been through in the past day.

He forgot for a moment that she was dead and went to grab her yet again, like an idiot he kept forgetting. He wanted it so bad he forgot reality. Pain was building up as he looked her over, she was perfect, every inch just like his dreams. It hurt too bad.

She cupped his face in her hand and lead his eyes to hers, forcing him to look at her like she had done so many times, and his will was broken.

"Nate... You know you can't do this right? You can't just kill him." Nora said, her disappointment evident, but is was more, it was sadness.

"He is a MURDERER, I can't let these people run around or I'm just helping the problem" Nate replied.

"But you are too Nate. How many people have you killed. You've been back in the world a day and you already have the right to judge him?" Nora questioned.

"That was war Nora"

"Are you at war now?"

"I would never murder people to survive."

"But you would for your family right? The man at the gate you killed him to survive."

"Nora... I did that for you. There have to be consequences for evil." He insisted.

"But not for the evil you commit?"

"What would you have me do? Let him go?" Seeing her nod wasn't the answer he wanted. "Nora I wont be able to make it through this world to save you and Shaun if I don't kill, its violent and its cruel."

"I didn't say you can't kill Nate." She said in that same even, loving tone she used with him when she knew he was wrong. It was all quite unnerving. "But you can't kill everyone who does wrong Nate, our you would be dead too."

"THEN WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH HIM?" Nate screamed.

"Show mercy Nate, for once show mercy. Don't become them... show a hand of mercy... For Shaun?"

And with that she was gone, leaving Nate lost and alone once again.

He dragged his feet to he severely beaten man as the sun arose, a debate was raging inside of him. His instinct told him to remove the threat but what would she think of him.

A decision was made.

He dragged the man to the stone wall overlooking the now sickly river and threw him into the water, once the raider hit the water he awoke instantly and began to swim to the far shore... this was as much Mercy as he could spare.

OoOoOoO

He felt before he saw.

He was on a soft bed, or couch, and he could hear a Mr. Handy floating nearby just like mama Murphy's. And he could tell somebody was watching him.

He also knew that he had been shot, he could feel it on his leg but knew it was wrapped, who ever had him had patched him up.

Deciding play dead he began running over what had happened in the last few days for how he got here.

They moved on from Jamaica plains heading north to find a new place to set up shop, maybe Preston could get enough of a foothold up here to restart the Minutemen. Course the raiders from Lexington had to get on there ass, they got pinned down in some museum and Preston said to sneak out and find help.

He got spotted by some raiders in the night and ran for his life up the road, running a good mile past a old gas station before he got shot on a bridge as they finally caught up. Hiding behind a mailbox probably wasn't the best idea because they pinned him down, but right before he passed out he saw a man up the street with a rifle.

The raiders didn't have him or he would be dead so the stranger had clearly saved him.

Sturges had heard people talk about a stranger come out of nowhere and save them, to many people had said it for it to be a lie, but he never thought he would have it happen to him. After a moment of thinking he decided to speak, the man didn't kill him so either he was a good person or a slaver. He hoped it he the first.

"Whats your name if I would be so bold." He said trying to sound brave.

"Nate." Replied a calm, rough, strong voice. It made him jump. Why couldn't it have been some angel faced, choir voice dame with a shaply- Never mind.

"Are you going to kill me?" He knew he shouldn't have asked, but he had to know.

"I don't... I wont unless you give me a reason." Was the gruff reply. "Whats your name?"

"My Name is Sturges, No last name." He said sitting up and opening his eyes.

The house was nicer than any he had seen thus far. No burnt carpet, clean of dust, and nothing was smashed. A man sat in a chair across from him.

Tall muscular with a rifle in hand, stubble coated his face save the area where a large scar that went from his cheek towards his ear. His nose was slightly crooked, probably broken a few times and it looked like he hadn't slept in days. But over all he look uneasy.

His old Mr. Handy hovered in the kitchen, Bullet holes and dents covered the rusted exterior and one of his eyes was attached wrong.

"So what happens now?" Sturges asked shifting uneasily on the couch.

After a moment of what appeared to be thought his savior spoke. "That depends. Are you a raider?"

"NO" He replied as fast as a person could.

"Have you killed anybody?"

"No?"

"Why should I trust you?" The finally asked.

Sturges was stumped for a while, the silence deafening until he finally found a reason.

"I'm with the Minutemen... for whatever that is worth anymore." He said.

His host stared so intently at him he could swear he could see his soul, but finally cracked a slight smile.

"Alright." Nate stood up and closed the distance then gave a firm handshake, which Sturges returned. "This is my house, your welcome to stay I suppose. Why where you being chased?"

So Sturges began his story, his host listened intensely as he wove a tale of betrayal and retreat that took place over the last two years and across Massachusetts.

Of the Minutemen who had fought so hard to keep people safe and died in the end, of the fact that a man by the name of Preston Garvey was still fighting at the museum of Freedom in Concord.

"-So I ran with all I had in me to find somebody to help. Preston said find help... looking back though I think he just wanted one of us to survive it. Almost didn't but then you found me, you got anybody else here who could help save us?"

Nate was silent for a few moments looking into the kitchen as if listening to somebody but then replied.

"No... But I will." He started retreating into the house and Sturges limped along as well.

"Not to put you down but there are thirty or so raiders and your alone." He said as he entered a bedroom and watched Nate opened a trunk littered with armor and a few guns. He wanted to save his friends but didn't want this guy to get killed.

"I can handle it. I've killed one sixth of them already right." He joked with a grim look while trying to put on a chest piece, he was failing miserably. "I don't know how this works yet, Help me out." He said clearly embarrassed.

Confused Sturges helped him with the straps and into the arm and leg guards, how could he not know how to use is own gear?

Regardless this was a well made set but almost to heavy for most people to use. They didn't put on the left forearm guard because of the Pipboy, after it was on Nate grabbed a 10mm and put it in a holster on the right thigh, the rifle around his back and a shotgun in the holster on his left thigh bringing his overall wight to well beyond what Sturges could carry.

He filled the pockets with shells and bullets for the rifle, put two Stimpaks in his belt, he also grabbed two waters and probably the best looking pack of cigarettes Sturges had ever seen.

Nate passed a can to him and he only now realized how thirsty he was, drinking it all himself before walking back to the living room.

"Alright, I'm going to go try to save your friends. If I'm not back by tomorrow night you can have the house." Nate said. Turning to walk away leaving Sturges stunned.

But before he closed the door he addressed his Robot.

"Codsworth I' heading out. Watch the house and if this guy tries to steal anything or run before tomorrow night kill him." Nate added nonchalantly before opening the door. Sturges knew he was no mach for a Handy without a gun.

 _ **"Suh YES SUH"**_ Codsworth shouted giving a salute. " **Suh** _ **I forgot to tell you, I stashed some of the more... Priceless family effects in the trunk of you**_ ** _automobile under a tarp."_** Chirped the Robot.

Nate nodded and left the house with a concerned and scared Sturges and robot who may or may not kill him.

OoOoOoO

Nate walked around to his car thinking about the armor.

It was heavier than the Combat issued kind he wore in Anchorage, and it was probably wasn't going to stop a bullet, but those raiders carried knifes and bats so it would help.

Around the back of the car now he pulled off the tarp and opened the trunk. Codsworth was smart to store things of value in the trunk, nobody would look there and it was sealed away form rain and dust. Inside he found his old footlocker.

"Alright Codsworth, lets see what you saved." Nate said as he opened the container, he could not have been more happy.

Inside where many things, the family photo album, his medal of honor along with other awards, Nora's diploma, newspaper clipping of Nate's war exploits Nora collected, His trench knife along this its sheath, a photo of him and Ben and a picture of Nora and him on their wedding day.

This was all more than he ever could have hoped for, but the wedding photo caught his eye. She was wearing that same dress when she came to him at the bridge to save the raider and in the house when she convinced him to save Sturges's friends.

He grabbed the knife and hooked it to his belt. A knife with built in spiked brass knuckles was all too american and he would need it.

Nate closed the box and shut the trunk lid, shouting to Codsworth and Sturges. "Codz, I love you so much. Can you bring this into my room when you have a moment." Nate's yelling echoed through the empty neighborhood.

He received a a faint confirmation. **" _Thank you suh and right away!"_** Through the wall of his home.

So now he set off to Concord. Hopefully Ben wouldn't arrive while he was gone but Sturges and Codsworth could explain where he went.

"Alright 'Preston' hold on a little longer. Sorry about this Ben." He joked as he walked across the broken wooden bridge.

* * *

 **Another chapter done. I decided to use Shepard's Lore's "Wasteland Waltz" as my canon fallout 3, If you haven't read it I would encourage you too as it is a phenomenal story. I always wished you could read the wasteland survive guide and I just seems so Moira to add an index of creatures.**

 **As always feel free to hmu I love hearing from you guys.**

 **Until next time.**


	4. Rock and a hard place

**Re uploaded** **because the final rework didn't save.**

 **Rock and a hard** **place**

* * *

Nate walked down the empty road for maybe twenty minutes before he came upon the Red Rocket. It seemed remote given that only one neighborhood was on this road, but they intended to build far more homes than just sanctuary in the area. It was all put on hold because of the resource issues before the war, Red Rocket was just ahead of schedule.

It was odd, seeing such an insignificant part of his life still standing after all the things he lost. It sparked something inside him, something unstable; he pushed it down, deep. Unstable wouldn't save Shaun and unstable couldn't help Nora.

He had used to work here before the bombs. Not because he needed money his pension and Nora's income covered all that. No he worked here because he was board staying home all day. Who would have thought after all these years the one place still in good shape would be Nate's work building.

The windows where still intact, bullet proof because of the Boston crime rates and the building still had some of that signature red paint on it.

The militaristic level of security on even a simple park and rob like Red Rocket was caused by the Winter crime sprees that had plagued Boston. And it reminded him of Nick. Always chancing after that bastard with everything he had.

What had become of his friend after the bombs, he wondered.

Nate walked inside, out of curiosity if nothing else, and found it to be better than he expected. A little dirt and a dead roach but other than that it was devoid of life.

He walked past the counter and into the office for no particular reason, maybe he might see his boss, he laughed. But the mental comment sparked that same feeling of pain that seemed to be plaguing his memory. And it didn't get better, he found his boss.

Huddled in a corner was the franchise owner and what he could only assume was his daughter, another pair of hollow bones. He hoped they died in the blast.

Gray Tortoises weren't his favorite but he needed a cigarette right now. After producing the pack he had found in the vault and a deep pull from the stick he felt the familiar smoke comforting him.

As a soldier Nate had smoked like a chimney, most men did during the war. It helped him keep sharp after a battle and calm him before one.

Nora always told him it was a 'Coping Mechanism' and he knew it was true, so he gave it up for her and Shaun's health.

But there was no more baby, or wife, or anybody left so why bother? He thought. Another spark, god they where really gone?..

No! No it was fine, He, was fine. And he would need something to lean on in the coming times, if what he had seen was any indication. And better cigs than Psycho like some of the other soldiers had taken to, he justified.

"I thought you gave up those cancer sticks?" Nora asked. He jumped, almost ready to fight.

He would never get used to his mind projecting his wife, regardless of how many times it would happen. But he engaged it regardless.

"I'm tired of this Nora, and I need one right now, more than ever really." He said rolling his eyes and slowly taking a pull.

But he couldn't shake her gaze. He was extremely uncomfortable, aware that his wife's likeness was watching him return to the bad habit so fast.

"Those things will kill you Nate, you have to learn how to cope more healthily." She finally retorted.

"I know. But something tells me I'll die long before the cancer can get me." He answered flicking he bud and stomping it out.

She was gone again, and he was grateful for that. But now he was alone.

No he hoped he was alone.

Now he realized it, he was terrified. It terrifying to explore the world he had read about in that survive guide. He was scared with every step he took, even if it was just the local city.

He was angsty now, he just wanted to get where he was going. So he started off again, leaving the ruins behind.

Walking through the parking lot and getting back on his way towards Concord, he passed many blown-out houses and cars along the way. Each with their own set of bones in them, he thought.

Slowly Nate began to understand just how many people had died in that final act of war.

One could tell he was close to his destination once he heard bullets in the distance and soon he was in the suburb's around the town. He started drafting a plan of attack.

Going through the alleys might keep him safe from raiders for a while, but then how would he get into the museum? He really wished he had asked Sturges how he got out so he could use that way to get in.

But before he thought on it any further he was immediately on guard, he was being growled at.

Nate loved dogs, he had entered the Army to be a handler after all. But he had been assigned elsewhere due to the war. He knew the breeds and genders just by looking.

But even an idiot could look at the one he saw the doorway of this house and know it was not a nice kind.

The mangy, scarred beast snarling from a home doorway was, from what he could tell, a German Shepherd female and a few years old. It looked like it had seen combat in its life, and he was sure it was rabid.

Before he could get a hand on his gun the dog lunged at him from the porch leaving him only a moment to raise his arm in defense.

The canine's teeth sunk into the arm guard with a firm hold, though luckily didn't make it to Nate's flesh. Once on the ground again though it pulled and whipped its head to try and cause as much damage to the appendage as it could. Quickly he made to kick the beast off his arm before it achieved its goal though.

It released its hold, praise god, but did not back down; now going for another lunge at Nate's neck. But he was ready.

He dodged the attack and fired at the animal as it tumbled on the street, hitting it in the side.

"What got no bite? How am I beating you?" He mumbled aloud.

This was an animal that had fought all its life. It couldn't have survived all its life fighting like this. Something was wrong with it.

It was sloppy in its attacks leaving plenty of room for Nate to harm it. But it was determined to fight to the death, forcing itself to continue the battle even with the bullet in its side. Most animals would have run, why not this one?

It tried to get to him yet again but with the wound it just couldn't move fast enough. Nate fired one more shot into the poor beast ending it quick. And it was over, like that.

It was hard for him to be honest. Killing a dog, it felt wrong, but they where no longer man best friend where they?

Now they where just another hungry animal that would see him as a meal.

He could tell it was going to upset him if he stayed any longer, so he jogged away trying to remove the poor animal from his thoughts.

Finally he was in the main district of Concord and it didn't sound good.

Peaking around it he saw that Sturges was wrong in his numbers. Instead of twenty there where thirty on this street alone all armed to the teeth and taking cover behind old cars and walls.

There where surely more in the store fronts of Concord and the museum itself and looking at this strategy wise this was one of the worst possible ways the raiders could be positioned for his, or any plan. He would need to kill all the people on the street and then there where the windows above that he could be fired on from.

Maybe he could clear the stores first and use the buildings for covore from the street?

No no these are raiders, he thought. Hoped up chem fiends, sadistic monsters to derive pleasure from inflicting pain. They're arrogant and stupid and their prey is ahead of them, they wouldn't even thing to look in the street because they assume they know who's in the street. He just needed to play the shadows as long as he could.

"Fuck a plan." He said drawing his knife.

OoOoOoO

"Don't worry people," Preston yelled, still firing through a window. "Sturges will be back soon. He'll bring help and we'll all be just fine."

He hated lying to them, but morale was low and they needed hope. In truth he was almost out of fusion cells and the stairwell was shaky at best. But there where kids in the room, the last thing they needed was crying.

"No, don't YOU worry Preston. I have a feeling help is on the way." Mama Murphy interjected in her withered voice. She fancied herself some kind of oracle but Preston knew she was just a washed up old chem fiend.

"Mama Murphy now is Really not the time!" Preston snapped, ducking down to reload and narrowly dodging a bullet that entered the room.

"I danno Preston," Interjected Reese, one of the few men left in the group. "I might be wrong and I sure as hell don't believe in 'The Sight" He snorted. "But I just saw a guy sneak up on a raider and slice him up real good so maybe Sturges made it."

"What!?" Preston burst in shock. Following Reese's finger and sure enough he looked out and saw him.

The man was sneaking up on the raiders who where distracted and killing them silently with a knife. He had already gotten four and was moving in on a fifth.

"Praise God, Sturges found help." Preston shouted to every one.

"Garvey I wouldn't get your hopes up, He's all alone." Reese said, his face turning sour. "And he just got caught." Some of the fire outside turned away from the building.

"Well... That's one more man outside we didn't have a moment ago." Preston said with a smile. He stuck his head out a window and screamed towards the the would be hero who was now pinned behind a sand bag line.

"Hey! Up hear!" He screamed more desperate than he intended. "We got a group of settlers and their almost up the stairs. Help us. Please!"

The response was comic to be honest. A thumbs up popped up from behind the sand bags and quickly retreated after the fire resumed at his exposed hand.

Preston laughed, he actually laughed at the antics of the hero as he took to running into an ally to escape the gunfire.

Maybe he shouldn't have yelled, because if not every gun was on the man before, well they all where now.

OoOoOoO

Nate found himself in a bad situation.

He had gotten through five raiders before he came to the source of the problem, two raiders where side by side firing from behind a pile of tires.

Killing one would alert the other immediately. So he had decided to kill the one with a pistol made of garbage because he looked like a cunt. But as he was half way to him his friend turned around and caught him sneaking up on them.

Suffice it to say it was a poor few moments for Nate that had lead up to him stuck in an alley fifty feet from the doors of the museum.

Raiders had tried to flank him from down the alley but the rifle shots held them at bey. They also fired in from the street effectively splitting them into two groups. The one after Nate and the one after the man who gave him away.

Nate fired down the ally with his rifle and got yet another one or two but nothing was really helped by it.

"EAT THIS ASSHOLE." Someone screamed, a thud ringing out not too far from him.

It took him a moment to realize what it was but once he saw the nails in a bag he knew it was an IED, not his friend.

Sprinting out of the alley like a bat out of hell he flew out into the street. He would take his chances out here. The bomb detonated and tore the walls to shreds leaving Nate to wonder what might have happened to him should he have stayed.

Once he hit the street all the raiders sights where on him as he continued the sprint towards the doors. He probably wouldn't have made it had it not been for the suppressing fire his new friend laid down.

So amazingly he made it inside alive and amazed.

He flew through the doors and slammed them shut, panting and arched over it took a few seconds for him to wonder where he was.

The building was a ruin in every sense of the word.

The lobby was filled with dead bodies; a few raiders, a few normal people and a few more of those... Brahman Stockton had called them, all loaded with items. The raiders had shot the cows dead but taken nothing, probably wanted the job done before looting.

Nate had never visited the Museum despite Nora wanting to. He had had enough of war in his life and it was nothing to glorify, so the area was completely foreign, unlike the streets outside.

He could see raiders behind the ticket booths and security gates holding a stair case. Thankfully they hadn't seen him, but there was no way he could get past the bars without getting shot dead. How to get to the top floor was another question as well but he assumed the stairs out lead there eventuality.

After searching for a moment he found a service door on the side so he slipped through. He entered a room filled with mannequins, wax figures, and dusty crates, they where all shot up and broken then spread on the floor.

Walking through the storage room he looked for raiders but found none and ended up in an actual exhibit of the Boston tea party. And at at the other end of the room where the object of the search, two raiders beating the hell out of wax George Washington.

But they where talking, and rather than let it go to waste he eavesdropped on their conversation a moment. It couldn't hurt to know more about his enemy.

"Those guys are freaks, having to much that guy I mean, just let him die already" Said one raider over the punches.

"I know, it was fucked to watch, but to each his own, I got my own fun planned. "Replied the second and quickly continuing. "Swear I saw one, Solid ten outa ten in this group. Once we get up that staircase I'm getting that bitch fast." Boasted one of the raiders as he beat on the president. Nate's blood began to boil at the mans atrocious intentions.

"Whateva' man... I might just fuck her before you have the chance, God I can already feel my di-" He was cut off by a shotgun blast to the head leaving his brain to spilling to the floor like pumpkin guts.

"What the fuck?" Screamed a the other. But at seeing Nate marching towards him he understood the situation quickly.

"Hey hey easy man just cool down," He said backing up as Nate advanced. "Look I gonna make a deal with you, I never liked that guy so you let m-"

Nate shot out his legs before he embarrassed himself. The monstrous man fell to the ground giving out a ear splitting scream.

"Your not going to get up that staircase." Nate hissed. With the damage to the legs he knew the shot opened an artery at a few points, he would be dead in moments, so he left the man to his fate.

"Nora I will never give a man like that mercy." He said already knowing she was there, somehow he knew. He was glad to see the next room was empty so he could talk down his hallucination without getting shot.

"But did you have to leave him like that?" she asked.

"He deserved it."

"He deserved to die maybe, but all this pain is unnecessary. Whats the point if he is already been given the ultimate punishment?" She questioned, but found an answer herself rather quickly. "Oh. It makes you feel better doesn't it."

Nate remained silent, preferring reloading his shot gun and rifle. But he could feel her disappointment, it was tangibly filling the room.

"It makes you feel powerful doesn't it Nate, you having all the power. Judge jury executioner right. I can't believe you, god... you're no better than the Chinese with all their torture and mutilation-" She continued.

Nate tried to stay calm but being judged by his dead wife, who was also his own mind and calling him a RED? It was ludicrous. This whole day was something breathing exercises didn't seem to work on.

"FINE." He screamed at the ghost, purposefully stomping back into the room unloading five bullets into the pitiful mans head with the 10mm and storming back in. "BETTER?" He questioned the ghost.

She showed no response but disappeared after a nod.

With her gone he could hear the other raiders on the stairs coming. He hadn't noticed the silence that had fallen over the building before he screamed. If they didn't hear the first two shots then they heard the last five.

"LOG?, MALCOLM? Who the fuck did you shoot?" Demanded on of the raiders now entering the room.

They had heard the shots coming from the entrance and decided to investigate, not wanting a counter attack, Nate surmised.

All they where greeted by where the ruined bodies.

"Damn." Was all he said before Nate popped from behind a display case and fired the rifle into his chest.

"HOLY FUCK!" Shouted the second raider as he stumbled back and emptying his gun into Nate's cover. But as he went to reload Nate fired and killed him easily.

Walking by the chest wounded raider he ended his life fast in hopes his wife would leave him alone for the time being. He grabbed two extra magazines off the man that happened to be 10mm and what looked to be a Molotov cocktail.

"Jesus these guys are brutal." He mumbled, tossing the war crime up and down in his palm.

His heart pounded in his chest to the point of it being deafening as he exited the storage area. One foot into the main hall and he was sent falling back, his armor giving off a loud, hollow crash.

A raider stepped in after him; he had been hiding and waiting for him.

Laughing, baseball bat in hand with nails protruding from the end, he moved in on his prey.

Had it not been for the armor his ribs would be broken. Nate tried to stand but it proved impossible after the hit.

The horrendous looking man walked slowly towards him laughing all the way. It turned out too that this particular raider was more experienced than the others Nate had encountered. As he reached for the shotgun the man quickly stomped on his arm pinning his hand, and him, effectively to the floor.

The Sadistic bastard put the gun to his right forearm, and with a squeal of satisfaction fired the weapon clean through Nate's arm.

The average person would be in agony after this, and therefor unable to fight back. But Nate hardly gave the man the satisfaction of a reaction beyond a grunt, leaving the raider confused and annoyed. His jet fueled mind couldn't understand why Nate wasn't screaming in pain.

With the one free moment and his arm pinned to the ground , Nate flipped onto his knees and shouldered out the raiders legs. Once he fell, Nate's arm was free and he pulled the pistol from its holster.

The raider struggled and squirmed around and Nate followed along with the sights on his head. Firing, he missed, hitting the neck and left him drowning on his own blood.

Once the raider was dead Nate collapsed against a wall trying to catch his breath. But in the moment of calm he finally noticed the stimulation on his arm. It seemed the Pipboy was alerting him of something, how long it had been doing so was unknown.

But the computer was vibrating frantically like a an alarm clock and letting out a high pitched noise, neither of which he seemed to notice in the heat of things.

Investigating the Pipboy closer he was stupefied to find how high his heart rate was. 153 BPM and blood pressure 70/50... those numbers didn't add up.

"Jesus Christ I need to calm down. Somethings wrong." He groaned between ragged breathes. Still looking over his vitals, he noticed the vault boy.

A frown covered his face and little arrows pointed to his right forearm, lower abdomen, thigh, and chest. It also gave him a warning that he was injured and should seek medical attention.

The forearm he knew and was already wrapping it with his medical kit Ben sent, thank god he couldn't feel anything. The part he found odd was the stomach and chest. He could tell the armor had been punctured, the leather and cloth was soaked in blood, pulling it up revealed the problem more acutely though.

The nailed bat got to his chest and a dozen punctures dotted him, trickling blood into the open air. But none of them where so deep as to puncture a organ, so he could ignore those for the time being.

Moving on to the next arrow he found nothing was on his abdomen, but rubbing his lower back located the second wound; a fine blood coated hole.

Next, the leg. It had a clean through and through as well, over all leaving him with three bullet wounds. The raiders outside must have hit him, or the one who had gone mad a few moments ago.

He supposed there where trade offs to not feeling pain. How long would he have run before he passed out from blood loss?

Thank god for the Pipboy had warned him. All the running, fighting and damage explained the readings he saw as well; but he was now faced with a new problem.

Nate couldn't get the bullet out alone, not on his back. And he would probably bleed out within the the hour or less, and he needed to get up stairs.

OoOoOoO

"Has he left the room yet?" Preston nagged.

This guy was their only chance and all they could do was peak out a hole in the office wall. The raider went in after pounding him seven minutes or so ago and bullets where fired, but by this point he could be dead and the raider was just looting him, or worse.

"No." Was all Reese would say.

All the raiders where silent, not a shot had been fired in too long, clearly they where just as confused as the Minutemen and wanted to know what was happening behind them. But none would dare go check it seemed.

The sole thing filling the silence was women and kids whimpering quietly. He had really failed them hadn't he? They trusted him, they trusted the Minutemen to protect them, but Quincy proved they couldn't even protect themselves anymore.

Bullets tore though the silent air out of nowhere causing the kids to cry out again.

Men screamed in the hall and soon in poured in stair guards yelling that the raiders climbed trough the floor behind them and flanked them. This was it wasn't it? Six men where left, the last six Minutemen pinned in a slaughter bin by raiders firing at the door and their one hope was killed by a bat.

"HOLD THAT DOOR TO THE LAST MAN!" Preston screamed as he ran to fire at the raiders, might as well die a hero for the kids.

Reese too withdrew his gun and rushed to follow what might be his generals last order.

Preston always envied the fine firearm. Black steel with gold decor and bear grip, Reese told him the story once. Twenty years of honorable service as it said on the barrel.

For that gun that had save his life before to soon be used by some raider to murder caravaneirs and stick up travelers, it made him sick.

Firing from behind a desk they got maybe five raiders before half of them where dead, this was it. Preston stood tall and fired his crank laser rife into the raiders hoard and was hit, it hurt. He fell back against he desk as the raiders moved in.

But something happened that nobody expected, least of all the raiders.

The last thing they heard was glass breaking before the fire consumed them.

Preston watched in terror as the raiders screamed and flailed about, some jumped over the railing and some even shot themselves rather than burn alive but the fire touched them all. He gawked at the brief view into the fires of hell that consumed his assailants.

But he was shaken out of the religious moment when Reese grabbed his coat and pulled him away from the doorway, and the scene.

"I tried to tell you to get away from the door you Jackass, but you just stood up like an idiot." He scolded over the screams.

"What the fuck was that?" Preston asked frantically. For a moment he though he got shot and died, ending up in hell from the looks of it.

"I tried to tell you! The guy walked out of the room Preston! He must have seen it all go down up here, then he strong arms some booze and flame from the main stairs at the raiders!" Reese yelled ecstatic to be alive. "Thank you God, thank you so much!" He shouted giving a Sign of the Cross.

"Yeah... Praise god." Preston laughed.

OoOoOoO

"Jesus Christ Nate." Nora yelled from the top of the stairs. For the first time so far it seemed she was mad at him.

"There was no other choice Nora, they almost had them!" He shouted moving up the stairs slowly. It was getting harder to move and he was getting light headed.

He had closed the wounds as best he could with the med kit, but it wasn't enough.

A raider ran out from a door brandishing a switchblade, a blow from Nate's shotgun and his body was rolling down the stairs of him to slowly step over. But he was weak enough that the kick back almost sent him toppling over.

"You shouldn't have used it at all Nate! You used to say that the U.S. using flamethrowers in Anchorage made us no Better than Reds. You even judged the Raiders when you found it on them!" She argued enraged by the action.

Entering a new room he found two more raiders, they must have been celebrating because empty needles laid about them and they where to high to process the threat of Nate's presence.

He ended them swiftly and glance around the room, a mural of the wars America participated in spanned over a curved wall. It was dimly lit in the building but he could still make out the latest one, a painting of Anchorage.

Chase glaring over a battlefield with a look of determination and pride as men sprinted towards the fleeing Reds, Jingwei on the ground terrified about to be stabbed by a man in white armor; meant to be himself he surmised. A great American flag flew proudly over the city of anchorage, what a beautiful lie.

This was a lie. American propaganda. Nate lost that battle with Jingwei, Chase was never confident like this, and not one american man was dead. And the reds NEVER ran.

It was disrespectful. disrespectful of Nate's pain and failure, or Chases sacrifice and constant self doubt, it was disrespectful of those who gave there lives for their country. But the winner writes history.

"I'm tired of this, LEAVE. ME. ALONE." Nate demanded, still looking upon the painting.

He was Not crazy and this was wrong, talking to his dead wife about choices in war, she didn't know what it was like to make choices like that.

"I clearly CAN'T LEAVE YOU ALONE NATE! You just engaged in a war crime that has been Illegal since the second World War. You burned fifteen people alive Nate!" She retorted.

But he was beyond angry by now. And he snapped.

"YOU ARE NOT MY WIFE! MY WIFE IS DEAD, FROZEN IN A VAULT. You're my own insanity! And I demand you LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE... LEAVE ME ALONE!" He screamed. But very quickly he knew he made a mistake. A look of Malice took over her face as she glared at him.

"You want your wife? Here." She spoke flatly.

The wedding dress was gone, replaced by a vault suit. Her skin was a sickly white and frost coated her hair and flesh. Long frozen blood covered the suit and a bullet hole her chest. Ghost clear eyes glared at him from across the room. She silently walked closer and Nate looked away as fast as he could.

Gone was his anger, Rage, his bravery. This was too much to see.

"You wanted your _real_ wife right?"

An icy hand touched his face, it felt real. It sent his skin crawling. But he refused to look. Those horrid sparks or pain began flying like a fire work.

"Whats the matter sweetie? You look sick, you feel cold too." She cooed, causing Nate tears of horror.

"Look at me." She demanded pulling his head up to gaze at her.

"I'm... I'm sorry Nora ju-Just DON'T DO... Don't do this to me." He bellowed, eyes locked downwards and tears falling to the ground.

The frozen hand all but forced his gaze to a pair of frozen, dead eyes.

"Your really don't understand?" He was shacking violently. Things stopped making sense, it was too hard to think he just need it to stop.

"Alright," She spoke as soft as an angel again.

She returned to the beautiful woman she was moments ago, but it did nothing to calm him. The reminder of reality was harsh on his endurance.

"You WILL get better... Don't worry." She promised aloud.

He was left alone once again in the dark, sobbing and bleeding.

If she continued to destroy him and leave the fallout behind he would not make it very far.

Exhaustion hit him all to fast; the day had been long and draining both emotionally and physically leaving Nate almost unable to walk.

He strained his way up the stairs slowly knowing he was almost bled out by this point. Not being able to remember leaving the room, his memory was skipping and his vision was becoming tunneled.

The few raiders he saw still alive at the top floor sobbed and screamed over their burned flesh. All waiting to die wanting to die so the pain could stop. Nate sleepwalked though the carnage towards his goal, he needed to get to the door.

Finally on the top floor all that stood between him and help where three final raiders. These where the ones who had not been sent to oblivion. Though they where still effected by the fire with a few burns here and there.

Nate drew his pistol and fired sloppily at them, stumbling around and landing less than he fired but still managing to disable them for good.

He shoved over them and did as any man would at this point, he knocked on the door.

The voices behind seemed so far away and when it finally opened Nate collapsed into the doorway. He knew they caught him and thanked them for it before he was gone.

OoOoOoO

After the Molotov they waited for their make shift hero to come meet them.

Preston wanted to go finish the crying raiders in the hall, and the ones pounding on the now barricaded door but he wouldn't allow it.

"Murder and Med-X don't mix General." He said going right back to digging for the bullet in Preston's leg.

Soon he got it out and moved to the next man who had a shot in his arm, one of two men left besides themselves.

They had lost so many in the flee from Quincy, even more on the run and finally after two years of slowly retreating thirty five miles they had lost over eighty people. For a doctor those where unacceptable numbers but there was little he could do.

A handful remained from the original group. Three dozen, less after the firefight with the Concord raiders but he didn't have time to count. This would have been the end had it not been for the man coming up the stairs.

He jumped at the gunshots outside the door. How long had they been waiting?

A knock on the door sent a chill down his spine, nobody knocked anymore. He ordered the remaining to men to open it and once they did the man passed out into their arms and thanked them on the way down.

"Get him on the cot!" He ordered.

Reese was the last doctor of the party, a man who had come from the far west a few years ago and trained by The NCR to keep his fellow rangers alive on the field of their large scale dick measuring contest with the Legion.

He came east to escape the fighting in his late forties and found more with the Minutemen. Needless to say he knew this man needed help fast.

They tossed the unconscious man on the cot and he, with the help of some woman, removed his chest piece and cut off his shirt.

"Barbarians!" He hissed seeing the mans chest.

He was clearly hit with a blunt weapon, the swelling was bad but what was worse, it had nails on it causing multiple punctures. Though by now they had scabbed over and they were not very deep, thank god for armor.

The blood on the shirt lead Reese to a bullet hole on his back, this was something the field medic was comfortable with and he was able to remove the bullet and seal the wound in a few minutes.

His leg had been patched properly and it was good work over all for a man bleeding out, but he would need more than this. He pulled one of the Stimpaks from the mans armor and injected it into his back, and the second into his leg hoping he wouldn't mind that he use his supplies.

While he worked all the people in the room hovered around the them trying to get a look at their savior.

"I have no idea how this guy kept walking," Reese explained as he went. "The pain alone should have made a cough agonizing, let alone walking up flights of stairs." Reese marveled at the mans pain tolerance.

"Who is he?" Preston asked looking him over.

A word from the general only now made him start to evaluate this man beyond helping him.

He was fit beyond the average man, Ranger materiel he would say, And dotted with scars. With a growing beard that said I haven't slept in days and dog tags around his neck he also had various guns and equipment on him that had spilled to the floor.

The most intriguing thing was the Pipboy.

Not many where still in working order these days and this one looked practically new. It was a model he hadn't seen before, but it might have some info on the man.

"Preston, check out his Pipboy, see who he is will ya?" He instructed.

He was happy to obliged and while the general checked him out he walked to the window.

Outside he saw a few remaining raiders guarding the door. It seemed they lost their confidence after the slaughter and where waiting for reinforcements.

Something felt wrong though, in the back of his mind. Like they where, all of them, in a hunting ground. But Preston called him over so he pushed it off for now.

"We got a problem," He spoke quickly. "Pipboy doesn't give me as much as a name for our friend, but its got plenty of vitals and they say he lost a LOT of blood, probably the climb."

Reese pulled the computer, and with it the limp arm, up to look. And sure enough Preston was right. "We need to do a transfusion soon or hes a goner." He explained looking to one of the remaining men.

"My med kit is on a Brahman downstairs, Orange was the one, Run down and get it FAST!" He ordered.

The man flew out of the room and down the stairs quickly.

"Alright buddy, lets see what blood type you are." He said pulling up the Dog Tags.

Reese himself had a pair, NCR given and from the west like him. Duel copper tags, the secondary having only a simple stamp of the two headed bear he once served.

The mans pair where different by far. Cool stainless steel tags with a rubber edge cover, nothing like he had seen before.

 _Howard, Nate D._

 _United States Army_

 _O Neg_

 _938-94-1427_

 _Christian_

 _United states Army? The only people I know of that propagated the U.S. army are the Enclave but they use holo-tags like the brotherhood.. . Who the hell is this guy?_ He wondered.

"Anybody O Negative?" He asked the room. Mamma Murphy raised her had.

"No offence Ma'am, but he would be better off with dog blood. Anybody else!" God only knew what Mamma Murphy had in her blood after all those years of chems.

Nobody else raised their hands.

He couldn't blame them, most probably didn't even know. The Minutemen only knew theirs because it was required for service, then tattooed on their arms for reference along with name, town residence in case of death, an any blood impurity.

Blood disease was a massive danger. A lot more than people and animals could kill you in the wastes, and without medicine being made anymore, it was almost always deadly.

"He WILL DIE." Reese reiterated to the room, but sadly nobody could help and Preston seemed at a loss.

Clearly they didn't want the man who saved them to die, but what could be done.

"Reese... he needs it-" Mamma Murphy began.

"NO!" He shouted again.

Tainted blood might kill him anyways, and unless he could wake up and choose to maybe get HIV or what ever else could be lurking in her dumpster blood, Reese would not pump him full of sixty years worth of shared needles.

"Never again" He reaffirmed to himself

"Check the deceased, their arms I mean." Preston said somberly.

It was morbid and made everybody uncomfortable but they began looking through the dead men. Coagulation wouldn't begin for a few more minutes leaving the blood still a viable option. To his dismay, none of the deceased had been O-, of course this man was a rare type.

"I got the bag Sir." Reported the man returning to the room out of breath, pale, and absent of mind. But he was hovering, he saw something down there.

"What else?" Reese asked calmly, something was clearly wrong. He was really pale like a ghost.

"I... I found J... I found Jackson Sir." Replied the man. It had to be bad.

"Where?"

"Second floor, right hall." Was all he said before sitting down. Without blood there was nothing he could do for his current patient, but maybe he could help Jackson.

He jogged through to the stairs along the blood trail 'Nate' left, passing the burned bodies he felt no remorse. For hours they where forced to listen to Jackson scream, they caught him and tortured him for fun and they got burned alive for it, karma at work.

Once he entered the room he found, what was left of Jackson Mayweather.

They must have had their fun.

Knifes jutted forth from his legs like twisted acupuncture, a blowtorch sat close by and it seemed they took turns flambeing his torso, and his face... It was a broken shadow of the once handsome man.

He hung by two ropes tied to his arms in the middle of the room like a decoration. But the worst part, the part that would haunt him to his last day was he was still breathing.

"God if that ins't the Grim FUCKING REAPER... well I gonna have a few words for you." He joked, but the deepest pain seeped into his voice by the end.

"Jesus Christ Jackson," Preston said. Reese had no idea he followed him.

"Oh, sorry,Sir... but I did- Did Not Know It Was You. Its just..." He said sniffling. "They took my god damn eyes." Reese was appalled and vertigo was setting in.

"My... How could someone do this?" Preston wailed, crying, and now more upset than he had been in two years.

"Well... First step is become a murderous psychopath who gets hard off pain." He joked again. But sadly his facade was fading fast, hot tears burned down the poor mans face as the pain came to the surface.

Reese jogged to his side and withdrew a vial of Med-X injecting it into his shouldered, within a few moments he relaxed his legs and began to hang fully by the ropes. But upon injecting it he spotted Jackson's tattoo.

O Negative. Clean.

Preston and Reese both knew he was a dead man, it was against all the bed side manner he had ever learned but he needed to ask.

"Jackson," He whispered to the slowly calming man. "We got a guy who's hurt really bad, O Negative," Reese said hopping the pain killers would dull him. They didn't.

"Will it kill me?"

It was a slap to the face to ask a man of medicine such a question, but with the amount of blood on the floor he might not have even three liters left.

"Yes."

"Doc you can't ask this of h-" Preston stared toplead.

"Yeah..." he cut off. "Yeah I'll do it, I'm not really fixable anymore right." Jackson explained. Reese's soul darkened at the nonchalance of the statement. "Just put me under before you move me." Was the last thing he said before seemingly passing out from the large dose of morphine.

"Reese this is wrong, one mans life for another." Preston insisted.

"He's almost gone Preston, I had to ask."

"You can't ask THIS loo-"

"HE HAS NO EYES PRESTON." Reese Retorted harshly.

"Even if I could fix him which I can't, who could live like that, blind and crippled because he will never walk again with what they did to his legs." It became cold in the room fast and neither wanted to speak. "I wish I could ask Mr. Howard if he was okay with this, I wish I could just use the drug dumpster upstairs, BUT DAMN IT NOT AGAIN THIS IS THE ONLY WAY."

"SO WERE JUST GONNA USE OUR FRIEND AS SPARE PARTS!" Preston retorted raging.

"Its fine Preston..." God Jackson. He wasn't asleep, he heard everything. "Your two need to talk more quietly." He joked now clearly high.

"You need to let this happen General," He continued. "Isn't this what being a Minuteman is all about? protecting people? saving lives knowing it could cost yours?"

Reese knew Preston knew he was right. But it hurt to damn bad; another dead man with him in charge. "Let me save one more... and really pump the Med-X will ya though?"

Looking to Preston and getting a sad nod, he injected even more painkiller into the man and made sure he was out. "We can't cut him down, his heart wont be able to pump much longer, we need gravity to do most of the work in the transfusion." Reese explained. "Ask the guys to bring our friend down here please."

OoOoOoO

Preston left the room in a hurry, the sight of a long time friend like that made him want to hurl.

He limped up the stairs and instructed the last two men, Carl and Jun to carry the deathly pale man to the doctor and tell no one what they saw. The last thing these people needed was Jackson on their minds... Or how close they came to the same fate.

They where not out of the woods yet though, and he needed to start thinking about that.

The stranger, Nate, had bought them some time but the raiders where still outside and reinforcements where most likely on the way. They needed to take back the building, a body count revealed a problem, fifteen woman, three kids, four men including himself and Reese.

"Alright everybody gather up!" He shouted in the office. Everybody looked to him and only now he realized he didn't know what to say.

"Uh... alright, were still alive, thanks to the man downstairs. We where almost gone, just like all those who went before us," This was not going well. "And he bought us another day. Almost with his life. But the riders will come back and he can't stop them all."

He gave up trying and failing to be the brave general he was never meant to be.

"I've tried, Tried so hard to to keep it traditional. To keep the fighting to the men because no woman should have to see what's downstairs. But we can't anymore."

They all looked terrified except Marcy who seemed smug and fulfilled. She had insisted for weeks in a very rude manner that she would be far more useful than all the men in the group put together even go so far at to hint at a coupe.

"We had twelve men two days ago, now we have four. This is a fight for our lives just like all the others and we are loosing so I need your help because I'm scared... I'm terrified of whats out there and I just can't fight it alone." He finished on a pitiful note but quickly manned up.

"So stand up if you know how to fire a gun!" He shouted, seven woman stood. "Alright, go and find a gun, the best you can. Everybody else get everything off the Brahman and behind the gates then fortify the passage, we will hold those gates and THEY. CAN. NOT. GET. PAST. THEM."

They all stood and began to walk, not looking the least bit confident. He was not good at this.

"You will see bodies, ours and theirs, Fathers, Brothers, Husbands, and I'm sorry." The kids seemed to want to follow but Preston forbade it, telling them to stay with Mamma Murphy who was, actually a good baby sitter, and offered to tell them a story from her past.

He watched from the railing for a while, most woman cried as they moved the bodies, and strained as the tried to move crates and Brahman to fortify, and looked lost holding guns but he simply couldn't help. His shot leg made it to hard to walk.

Reese joined him at the top and delivered the news.

"Hes gone General, but our new friend is starting to regain color." He spoke softly.

Being referred to as General was something Preston hated. He was the last high ranking officer of the Minutemen, the last of the once many Colonels of the militia that he knew of, making him the leader, but he was not voted in and there for was not the General in his eyes.

The people looked to him as the head of the now dead organisation for guidance and even their very lives and it got to him. He was thirty two and his beard was already graying, his hands trembled like a leaf, and he couldn't sleep through a night anymore.

All in a futile attempt to save them all, though Reese called him it anyways.

"Glad to hear it." He said hollowly.

They stood their a while, a long while in a tense silence. Soon Preston went back into the room with the intent to sleep while he could leaving Reese in charge. All the fighting and the wound where draining him fast.

Mamma Murphy was still in the room, the kids where out like lights and Murphy herself was staring off at god knew what, a jet canister on the floor.

"Glad somebody is having a good time, even despite all the danger." He mumbled, laying down on the floor.

Within a few minutes of laying down he fell asleep, but just as he did Mamma Murphy awoke with a jolt.

"The danger hasn't even started yet kid, Its gonna be a rough few years."

OoOoOoO

"What the FUCK, did you just say?" Jared boomed upon hearing the the raiders report.

One job, take out a caravan, Grab an elderly woman and kill them all and these fools lost more than half their men and the targets where still alive. "And it was all ONE MAN!"

"He wasn't no man boss." Was all the raider could say.

"What... could that possibly mean?" He questioned already tired this man.

"He was silent as if air, killed some guys before we ever even saw. Then he took on the whole group and sprinted to the doors like a mad man, we got a shots in on him even and he didn't notice." Explained raider.

"Did you chase him in?" Jared demanded. By the look on the raiders face this was the first time he thought of it.

"So you let him sneak up on everyone in the building? NO WONDER HE WON SO DAMN EASY YOU ASSCLOWNS DIDN'T EVEN SEE HIM HALF THE TIME." He was seething.

Twelve fucking men where left from the thirty he sent. More than half gone and one man did two thirds of it.

"What about the one you told me about, who ran?" He asked trying to find a bright side.

"Sent five after him, not none came back."

"None of them came back you illiterate fuck. I can't stand decoding every conversation I have with you Walder" Jared corrected, continuing to himself "He must have found the guy inside and came back. Alright I have a plan get whats left of your men."

He needed Murphy and killing the last Minuteman was a reward itself. But of course he would need to do it all himself.

Jared strode down the street, the other raiders flanking him, Molotov's in hand. He positioned himself in front of the museum and yelled at the top of his lungs into the night air.

"You have three minutes before we burn the building down. Give us the Crone, children, woman and the General or we kill you all at take them." He screamed.

This whole 'Show' was met by a well placed shot into a Molotov. It shattered in the mans hand coating him in alcohol and the already lit rag fell on him.

He went up like a torch leaving the other raider to watch him scream and flail like a flair until he eventually fell silent and dead on his face.

"You better turn around or you'll end up worse than your friend." Yelled a mans voice from inside.

"Get in their and kill them. And save the jackass who killed my men if you can." Jared ordered. The raiders seemed all to pleased as they sprinted for the doors. "Light it up." He ordered the pyros.

He had brought his suit with him though, a back up plan, and it seemed he would need it.

"Walder follow me, I need help with the armor." He said moving back to the gear stockpile.

OoOoOoO

God they screamed above him, he watched as the forms of the raiders where lost in the flames he had set.

They threw themselves from the edge in hopes in would end but most survived to burn on the bottom floor more damaged then before. Soon he was amongst them, walking through the bodies he had destroyed.

Burned alive they reached for him, begged him to end it all but he was helpless too do so, he just watched.

"Wake up!"

"What!" Nate yelled, he was awake.

He was on a cot in a room, and I.V. in his arm and surprisingly alive.

A forty something year old man, bald with a blond goatee and a bloody white shirt stood over him. A large red cross on his left arm.

"Who are you?" Nate inquired almost to hostile.

"Names Reese buddy and I don't like your tone." He retorted. "Now if your done with your beauty sleep we got a new problem, let me give you a shot of Med-X and we-" Nate pushed the needle away.

"I don't need it." He said sitting up. He felt the wounds stretch as he moved but of course no pain, and they seemed to be in the process of healing.

"You give me Stimpaks?" Nate asked the man, he nodded back. He must have been out a few hours for them to heal this far.

A Stimpak accelerated the healing processes exponentially but only locally, and it still took hours for complete restoration. Glancing around the room he spotted a body was next to him under a sheet, a bloody pile of knifes beside it, and the Iv in his arm leading right to its leg.

The doctor must have caught him starring because he spoke up.

"You made it to the door, killing ever raider in your path and passed out from blood loss. That's your donor Mr. Howard," Nate shot him an odd glance and he covered his ass quickly. "I read your tags for a blood type, he was almost dead and gave you what was left of his blood."

"I'm, sorry for you're loss, and thank you." He said solemnly receiving a nod from the doctor. "Now whats the problem?"

"Follow me." Reese said leading him out of the room.

Looking over the railing he saw woman hiding behind the ticket booths and gates, armed as best they could. Over all it was a good kill box but with those hand made garbage guns it would be tough.

"We locked the place back down but more raiders just showed up outside, a lot more. I know you're still healing and probably experiencing quite a lot of pain but even if you can just shoot that would help." Reese explained.

they fell silent a moment but he came up with a good question on the stairs, where was his gear? All he was wearing was jeans, the remaining dog mangled appendage armor, and the boots. All leavening his damaged chest exposed.

Once up the stairs he walked through the object of his nightmare, the burned raiders. Nora stood across the hall watching him with a disappointed face but before he could do anything about it another, familiar voice came to him.

"Glad to see your finally up, I'd like to thank you for what you've already done it was... kinda amazing." The man from the balcony said chuckling. "My name is Preston Garvey, the leader of the Commonwealth Minutemen." He said extending his hand.

"Nate Howard, no titles." He replied taking the shake with a smile he liked this man. "So whats the situation?" He asked straight.

Scanning the room for his gear, it was all in a pile against the wall next to three sleeping children. His chest plate was covered in dried blood but it was all there.

"Whole new batch of raiders rolled in a few minutes ago. Mamma Murphy over there says she knows him." Preston explained while Nate armed himself.

He turned to the old woman with a questioning glare as he lifted the armor plate up, his chest started to bleed again from all the use.

"We knew each other as kids, he was a violent type from the start. He wants the sight." She explained.

The last part had him at a loss so he looked to Preston for an explanation for 'The Sight'.

"She thinks she can see the future when she's on chems."

"Oh, thats all?" He joked.

"Don't disrespect the sight, its why Jared is here." She scolded.

"Let the sober people talk." Reese hissed.

It was shocking to see a doctor yell at the old woman but nobody seemed too worried so he moved on. Finally he gave up on the armor leaving him with only the legs, holsters and arm guards on.

 _"You have three minutes before we burn the building down. Give us the woman, loot, children, and the General or we kill you all at take them."_ They all heard form outside. It woke up the kids but they huddled around Murphy and remained quiet.

"That him?" Nate asked Mamma Murphy, she nodded.

"They have Molotov's." Preston said peering out a window. "We are sitting in a tinderbox. Anybody have any ideas."

he had one. A display of strength.

He marched to the window and took aim, taking a deep breath he fired a shot into one of the Molotov's setting the holder ablaze and causing all the raiders to jump.

After the initial shock Jared initiated the attack, Preston seemed furious.

"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?" He screamed, clearly not understanding the point. "Now we don't have any time to plan!"

"There was no plan we could make that you haven't already done that fast," Nate explained, he heard the door swing open and gun fire ensue. "Don't give them time to think, they might have breached the door one at a time, the surprise wouldn't have work," He continued.

Preston was beginning to understand. "Now make them angry, make them charge for blood, and they all go in at once."

They walked to the railing and sure enough a group of raiders, maybe nine where already down in the entry. They had clearly charged in and been gunned down before they knew what happened.

Now they had a firefight on the lower floor. The raiders couldn't get past the barricade with all the fire, but the Minutemen couldn't get hits in with all the cover in the lobby.

"That was smart, where did you learn all this?" Reese inquired.

"I know my way around war." Was all Nate said. "Now we need to flank them and get out of here, I can already smell smoke. How did Sturges get out."

"This way." Preston said leading him towards the roof.

* * *

 **Another Chapter and this one is super long but thanks for reading.**

 **I would like to say that the darkness of the raiders, yes even the rape threat is only going to get worse as he goes further in the story and makes more people mad. BUT, I will never show anything like rape in the story closely. I've gotten a few reviews and I would like to say thanks to them, also I know about the "From" "Form" think and am trying to fix it but thanks you for mentioning it.**

 **If anybody had any questions or suggestions feel free to DM me about it.**


	5. Moments of Luck

**Moments of luck**

* * *

"Murphy we're going up to the roof, make sure the kids STAY HERE." Preston instructed walking through the office, Reese and Nate close in tow.

"I got it Preston." She confirmed.

On the other side of the office the conditions where far worse, deadly really. Rain water over the years had seeped in and rotted out all three floors leaving a massive chasm that would surly lead to death if someone fell and a very unstable floor to move across before the sun leaking door. The only way across was a brittle looking support beam a foot wide traversing it, had it not been there the door on the other side would be impossible to reach.

"Jesus Christ... who's going first?" Nate asked nervously, this reminded him of the Anchorage cliff scaffolding on the way to the Artillery guns, one slip and your dead.

The silence lasted a few moments before Reese stepped up "I'll go, no sense in waiting around until you fucking sissy's grow a pair." He declared.

The doctor started across slowly with his arms out for balance, it was thirty feet across so it would take a moment for him to pass over at his pace leaving the two ample time to do nothing.

They watched the battle take place below, The Minute...woman, where holding the raiders at bey with maybe seven dead so far so far but they had casualties of their own and where probably running out of ammo.

Marcy was admittedly doing a very good job of ordering the militia in the fight; where to fire and when to take cover but it still didn't look good for them, Nate needed to get outside fast.

They waited for Reese to cross and as they did Preston spotted a Raider trying to climb up one of the walls onto the second floor to bypass the kill box. Nate studied as he raised a strange weapon intent to learn more about it, it seemed to be a hand made leaser rifle.

A cell was put into the chamber but instead of slowly draining it per shot it could be cranked several times so the energy was stored in a chamber like cylinder until a charged stronger shot could be fired. It was then funneled through two lenses along the barrel and the massive leaser was focused on the target.

Preston fired with amazing accuracy for a hand made weapon and not unlike the Plasma gun in Anchorage, the weapon turned the raider to ash upon impact with the super charged beam leaving him to blow off the wall like dust.

This weapon, and its creator where genius. They exploited a malfunction energy weapons had been known for, 'Overcharging' and channeled it into a stronger weapon over all. In his time some soldiers who where given energy weapons had known about this and left there gun to charge an hour before a fight so they could get one of these legendary 'Critical' they called it, shots.

The only problem that lead to it not being utilized by the weapons manufacturers was it ruined the gun far to fast for it to be a reliable option, which must have lead to this creation he now saw before him. It was custom destined to allow for multiple Critical shots in, relatively rapid succession and when the focusing lenses burned out they could replace them, far easier than a whole leaser rifle barrel.

But As Preston to reload Nate found the flaws, it could deal incredible damage but all two slow. Not only did it use a whole type A, (a fusion cell), when a leaser rifle could get twenty shots out of one, but it also needed to cool leaving the user defenseless while it did.

"What is that thing call Preston?" Nate asked. He was astounded at the idea and disappointed that his generation never thought of it, maybe it was because they didn't need too, they had it easy just fighting each other instead of monsters and mutations.

"This?" He gestured towards the weapon, Nate nodded. "A Leaser Musket. I take it from the wide eyes you've never seen one before, we are the only group that knows how to make them and only high ranking Minutemen get one." He explained dashing Nate's hopes.

"Alright then."Nate said firing the rifle at a unsuspecting raider leaving his brains exposed to the light.

"You want one?" Nate nodded again, there was no point in lying to his new comrade. "You can always join the Minutemen, You'll get a musket and we're looking for new recruits."

"I thought you said only high ranking members receive one?"

By now Reese was across and Preston stepped out onto the beam, though he was much faster then Reese had been. He ordered Sturges to cross a day ago to get out of the building and watched as he did it unlike Reese making him much more sure about its safety.

"Well I'll make an exception for you, A man of your skill would be invaluable to us," He almost lost his balance trying to make eye contact with Nate but recovered fast. "And seeing as we aren't overflowing with soldiers right now I don't think anybody would mind." He joked, "Speaking of which, where did you learn to kill twenty raiders in a row?"

"And where did Sturges find you, are you from a Settlement around here? Where is he right now?" Yelled Reese from the other side of the gap.

It was now Nate's turn, stepping out onto the wooden beam he only now appreciated how far of a drop it was. "Well," It was daunting to walk along such a thin pole, and was made ever harder trying to talk but he felt he should answer. "Like I said I'm no stranger to war... and no settlement, I'm new to the area same as you. about Sturges... He is at my house resting right now because he got shot, and I didn't think he would be much use in a firefight." Nate explained.

"You made a good call, hes more of a... Well a repair man." Preston explained.

Nate was halfway across when he heard a bullet tear by his head, He picked up the pace but more and more of the raiders below spotted the man trying to cross and fired at the easy target. Nate was... for lack of a better word sweating bullets while praying he would not take a hit and fall. Preston and Reese fired down into the lobby trying to give some cover but it didn't really work.

He couldn't risk it anymore and broke into a jog on the beam towards his companions, not a smart move but it was worth the risk to vacate the role of a target dummy. With a final push he flung himself the last five feet and crawled towards the wall to get out of the raiders sights. Lying on a dirty floor he shot a smile towards the minutemen, at least he wasn't alone because they looked just as fearful.

After a moment they all moved up the final flight of stairs and onto the roof, the first thing Nate saw was the creator of all the holes in the building, a crashed Vertibird, they could wait a minute right?

Preston and Reese remained silent as Nate walked up the the ancient vehicle with almost a reverence about him, deciding to observe their new friend rather then continue.

They had not been in service when Nate was in the army; No to get into enemy territory he did halo jumps like the one into the Anchorage cliffs with Benjamin, those new boys had it easy after he left.

He could only guess it was on route to Vault 111 at the time the bombs fell and crashed into the roof. As lightly as he could, Nate stepped into the fuselage of the aircraft, he could feel it shift under the added weight but he continued regardless.

The fuselage was empty of bodies and anything of value, the passengers must have gotten away, so he continued into the cockpit and inside where the two pilots still at the helm after all these years. The cockpit, and with it everything inside was in good condition for two hundred years as it was pretty closed to the elements, not even picked through.

Nate never had any reservations about scavenging the dead Chinese, you always needed more ammo and grenades where universal but his brothers in arms, who died in the line of duty, that felt wrong.

Even though it was immoral Nate needed to scavenge for ammo, in the WSG he had read that quality factory made ammo was hard to come by these days and after all, it was the property of the American military for which he was probably the last surviving member. Who else had more of a claim to it then him?

He removed the army issue helmet from the copilot because he needed one and dug around the uniform. He felt the brittle ribs through the fabric like a washing board and it disturbed him but he continued and found somethings at last.

Clover cigarettes, a military compass, silver lighter, a crowd control stun grenade, and a photo of a man and his daughter... She was a few years older than Shaun, black hair with pig tails and a pink dress. And to think on the darkest day the world had ever seen her father wasn't there to comfort her because he needed to hold back selfish assholes like him from the vault, And look where it got both of them, one dead and one alone... who was worse off he wondered.

Nate put the lighter back in the pocket along with the photo, he felt it was the least he could do for his brother in arms. Strapping the other items down and the Stun grenade to his belt he felt Reese and Preston enter and quickly leave the aircraft while he examined the dog tags that hung around the bear spin to find the name, John Mendez.

"Well John... Rest well and thank you for your service." Nate spoke softly enough that the other men couldn't hear him.

Nate left the aircraft and looked back towards the door but the two had gone to the other side of the roof. Nate climbed back through and back to the far side listening to Reese and Preston argue over something, but he found a far more intriguing item.

The sun silhouetted a suit of T-45 power armor stood on the roof gazing over the north like and ancient sentinel, finally something he could use.

But closer inspection reveled it was useless, not moving for two hundred years of rain and dirt had done a number and even the "Rustles Steel" Was now a dull brown. The joints where immovable and the electrical system had to be shot leaving this once pinnacle of protection as useful as a garden statue.

It hurt him on the inside, seeing it like this, a set of power armor made a man invincible in a soldiers eye; it was invaluable and this one was left in the rain to rust away like the rest Nate's world. It was all gone except reminders of violence and hate, and this piece of the war... Anchorage.

OoOoOoO

Nate moved on to his fellow soldiers and interrupted their squabbles, "So how did he get down Colonel Garvey?"

"...We followed the arrows he left and it seems he jumped," he said pointing over the edge, Nate walked closer and examined the drop . "Onto that roof."

"I'm telling you it wont work again, Sturges must be thirty pounds lighter than him without the gear and it almost gave out." Reese argued.

From the looks of it the messenger had jumped from this roof fifteen feet onto the church's roof leaving a almost collapsed divot in the possess, from there he probably climbed in through the steeple.

"You think we can tunnel through the earth with spoons Reese? Its the only way." Preston pushed.

"I gave one of our best friends LIVES to Mr. Howard and I am not going to throw it away, we will fin-" He lost the thought from seeing a blurred Nate fly by him towards the edge of the roof.

Nate was sure he would die as he mad impact with the soft wood, He crashed through the wood like cardboard and should have been gone had it not been for a single nail pulled up and exposed. As Nate slipped towards his new hole and with it oblivion wildly reaching for any grip he could find but none where there, only a single nail catching the strap of his shoulder guard.

Nate dangled from the roof with his feet thrashing in the open space below before realizing he was not yet falling, but the strap wouldn't hold he knew it. He was turned around and struck, his right arm useless for now, he needed a plan fast. No arms but his legs? yes he knew it would work.

Nate swung himself as light as he could not wanting to break the strap, over and over he tried and finally he got his legs onto the opposing side of the hole effectively planking over it. With all his power Nate pushed off with is free arm towards his feet, he got free of the nail and rolled to the side narrowly avoiding disaster.

"ARE YOU INSANE THAT ALMOST- GOD DAMN IT!" Reese Screamed surpassing even the gunfire in volume, All Nate could do was smile.

"Stop worrying soldier" Nate yelled back. "Get inside and help the civilians with those Reds, I'll clear the outside and flank."

The only Person who hadn't seemed scared or mad was Colonel Preston, he looked deep in thought but broke it rather suddenly. "Not alone you wont!" He blurted out.

Before Reese could stop him the man slung his gun around his back, got a running start, and hurdled himself off the roof. His impact was almost worse than his predecessors leaving Nate almost no time to grab the His sub before he plummeted to the church floor.

Nate hauled the winded man onto the roof as he begged for breath. "My god it worse watching it happen." Nate joked. They didn't bother listening to Reese scream about not fixing them this time.

"You got some massive balls my friend, there is no WAY I would jump first." Preston chuckled "GET BACK INSIDE REESE, WE GOT IT FROM HERE." Reese was about to argue but something must have told him off and he followed the order.

"Alright lets do this Brother."

They slowly tread lightly toward the Steeple, not wanting the cause anymore holes on the way. Nate boosted Preston who in turn pulled Nate in and they observed the situation. The whole front half of the building had gone up in fire over the last ten minutes though it was dying out now.

"Okay," Nate said. "You stay here Soldier, I've seen what you can do with those RnD rifles so fire on them form this point, I'll go down and work from the street and together we will wipe these dog eaters from the face of the earth." He said, his voice filled with pride, they where saving their county from the Red Menace.

"Alright?" He responded, he seemed nervous to Nate.

A few raiders on the upper floors across the street seemed to have seen the crusaders roof top jump then desired to move in on the doors of the church, weather they had told the others they didn't know. Twenty or so more raiders where in sight outside the museum and they agreed that Nate would go down, dispatch the intruders and fight on the ground while Preston fired from the tower.

Nate moved down the staircase as quiet as he could on the squeaky stairs not wanting to get in a fight here, but something was wrong, something was waiting at the bottom for him... he didn't know why but the presence filled him with dread, who was waiting down there?

OoOoOoO

"ARE YOU INSANE THAT ALMOST- GOD DAMN IT!"

"Stop worrying soldier" Nate, with a loose smile shot back at them. "Get inside and help the civilians with those Reds, I'll clear the outside and flank." Nate ordered.

Preston was about to follow the order, but something inside him bubbled up, He was done letting this man almost die for them. Getting shot and stabbed for people he didn't know while he himself did nothing but fire from a distance and hope for the best.

He would not let him face another army of raiders alone again, He knew he had to get down there and there was only one way, Reese would loose it but " _Its easier to ask for forgiveness than permission_ " he mumbled.

"Not alone you wont!"

Getting a running start he hurdled himself off the ledge like Nate had done, only barley seeing Reese's face on the way down.

Seeing was one thing, but feeling his feet tear through the roof, your hands scramble and claw for anything to hold, your legs enter the void below was something else entirely. Terror flooded his chest as his arms almost dipped below, but Mr. Howard was quick to save.

He grasped Preston's gloved hands tightly and for a moment Preston's head was under the roof before Nate squatted him back up and hauled him out of the hole. They both collapsed onto the roof and while they where staring up at Reese who was still yelling Preston got the feeling that he and Nate would be very good friends if they made it out of this.

"My god it worse watching it happen." Nate said beside him.

"You got some massive balls my friend, there is no WAY I would jump first." Preston responded, Nate was a brave man, it seemed every time Preston thought he had seen the peak of his Bravery; Nate pushed it a little further. "GET BACK INSIDE REESE, WE GOT IT FROM HERE." He ordered the burning Doctor.

"Alright lets do this brother."

Preston crawled towards the steeple slowly and got a boost from Nate in, He helped Nate up and they surveyed the area, twenty or more Raiders both outside the doors and down the center street awaited and three moved in on the church.

"Okay," Nate began. "You stay here Soldier, I've seen what you can do with those RnD rifles so fire on them form this point, I'll go down and work from the street and together we will wipe these dog eaters from the face of the earth." Preston was confused by Nate's words but followed none the less.

"Alright?"

Nate descended the stares and left Preston in the tower alone, as he took position he thought about what he had just done. Jumping across roofs, fending off hoards of raiders, saving people.

It felt good, good to fight back, to do what he had set out to do all those years ago without all the politics and petty squabbles of the Minutemen and the Generals chair getting in the way, This was what he loved after all, the rush of saving people.

But something was wrong with Nate. What the hell was "RnD" and who called Raiders Dog Eaters? Calling him a soldier was not too far out of the norm but still something seemed different, he seemed off after his time in that aircraft.

He perked up when he heard the man in question speaking, or rather arguing at the bottom of the stairs, with who he couldn't even guess but it sounded passive. He couldn't make out the first half or any voice save Nate's.

 _"-Your a Chinese spy... you can't fool me, Nora is back home... of course we're in Anchorage you Red bitch don't try to tell me otherwise, now where. is. Jingwei!"_ But before he could listen further the raiders inside the church fired and it sounded like Nate dispatched them quickly, what the hell was he saying?

It was hard to see in the faint morning light but Preston made out the soldier as he darted across the street and into a hardware store with a wide view of windows and crouched behind the out looking wall.

Preston gave his musket three cranks, well enough to kill a man, and took an aim on the railing of the tower, he would kill any raider that got to close to the doors but leave most of it to Nate.

Preston observed as Nate popped up with his rifle and got in a quick shot before hiding away again, the outside raiders where spooked by the shot but none the wiser about its origin. Nate did this several more times, firing on his stomach from the door way then moving to a further point of the window never letting them catch on until he had seven or more dead and they finally found him.

One was far dumber than the rest and thought rushing Nate's cover was the best course of action, but he was dissuaded by a third degree burn on his chest from Preston. They finally Thought for once and stopped trying to cross the street, after that it all seemed to be going well, they had killed quit a few raiders and between the two they held them back.

Nate when up for another shot and Preston wouldn't have noticed had it not been for the fact he jumped back almost instantly. He thought his new friend had been hit by the suddenness of it but very quickly after he was back up, only this time he was running.

Nate flung himself out a window just as Preston heard the rocket engage, it flew through one of the windows and turned the building into a burning wreck only accomplishable with Pre war ordinance.

Nate frantically waved for Preston to exit the steeple and he all but flung himself down the stairs in a terrifying flee, he made it just in time to avoid the blast that consumed the tower, but it still sent him rolling down the stairs. He laid on the ground and knew he had to help his friend, get to the street even but he couldn't... wouldn't walk,

For ten minutes Preston strained against his shock to assist his friend as the battle raged on outside but to no avail, the ringing was deafening though he could still feel more rockets go off and he wondered if Nate was already dead and they where just mopping up the last of the people. No... he would not fail them this time, He was the last Minuteman and he would be damned if he let RAIDERS win.

On shaky arms he lifted himself and grabbed the railing, working his way across the second floor he made it to the stairs and down into the chapel. He found the three raiders Nate killed and moved to the door. The building across the way was falling in on itself because of the explosion and fire... Fire. FIRE.

Preston ran into the morning air, not caring about the battle any more and looked to the museum. Much to his relief the fire was dying out after taking half the roof, they could still be alive.

His hearing was coming back as he moving towards the front of the building, reaching for his weapon his found it gone, he couldn't fight so he got behind a blown out car and looked down the street at the battle before him. All he could do was watch for now.

OoOoOoO

Nate hid in Wrights inn on the second floor, it was once a nice tavern on the front until it got pushed back and the Chinese rolled in, all it was now was another safety violation waiting to cave in on itself just like the rest of the Alaskan towns.

He had to hold two fronts in the battle, the demolished stairs he had scaled in his flee would have those sneaky Dragoons try to climb periodically, and the Chinese General had a suit of garbage covered power armor out side.

He must have stolen it off the battle field, the Chinese weren't smart enough to make Power armor yet and it seemed all he had was the frame itself, none of the armor plates or joint covers. Though it was neither air tight and covered with rusted metal, chains and tire scraps it made for a formidable foe leaving Nate wishing Ben where with him.

Nate fired at another Red trying to climb the stairs and thought about Garvey, the man surly made it out of the tower in time but then, where was he? " _Probably shell shocked, thhe first is always the worst "Never mind that"_ Nate thought, he was a soldier just like him, they knew what they signed up for when they left for the front, Every man who died did it for his home and the Chinese had to be stopped.

"Alright, finish the fight... FOR GOD AND COUNTRY!" He yelled running out the door and on to the balcony of the inn.

He saw the General with the rocket launcher in hand, it seemed he had reloaded it. Nate jumped from the second floor onto a car in the street rolling off just as the Red fired on his previous position but there was no time to stop now.

Nate rushed out and fired his 10mm on the General but they didn't get through, lucky the power armored Red was slow, never having been properly trained he probably didn't know how to move faster without harming himself. Nate was about to use his Stun grenade but the Reds from the building flooded out and started firing on him.

Nate found cover behind another car as it was filled with lead, dozens of rounds must have hit the vehicle. Nate was shocked to feel metal grab his shoulders as he was whipped around, the Chinese General came around while his men fire and grabbed him. Nate was now looking him dead in the eyes through a cobbled helmet, He didn't look Chinese but who else was after Anchorage?

"So your the little shit who's been killing my men, Tell me the first time and I'll make it quick. WHERE IS MURPHY!" The Red demanded.

"Howard. Nate, February 25 2060, Sargent in the 108th Infantry regiment of the United States Army, 12324127." Nate replied like they had practiced to many times.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" The red demanded. "I will cut it out of you if I have too I swear." He threatened but Nate was far more interested in the car he hid behind.

It was letting off blue smoke around the engine and a small hiss, then Nate heard it, the crack followed by a pop and louder hissing, they trained him on this at the Red Rocket, he remembered he worked there AFTER Anchorage... no no why did he think these where Chinese these where raiders he was in the future and that engines Class-C fusion Core was still active and just went into Critical melt down.

OoOoOoO

Nate recalled his extensive training to get a job at the Red Rocket about Fusion cores.

 _Fusion cores come in five sizes: type A (a fusion Cell like for leaser weapons), B for powering Robots like handy's, Assaultron's and power armor, C which powered Cars and by this point requir coolant, D which are used in Tanks and Sentry bots, and X which power buildings._ The manual said. A Class C explosion could take out everything in a fifteen foot radius not to mention the fallout

"Back up Now!" Nate urged.

"What?" he demanded.

"RUN OR WE BOTH DIE"

Jared turned to see the smoke and seemed to know what it meant, he dropped Nate and ran along with all the raiders to a safe distance down the street. Nate got behind a corner of an ally and knew what came next, he had seen these types of explosions on the news.

The Earth shook as the core gave in and it lit the whole area with the atomic light of a low yield nuclear explosion, it ended leaving Nate's Pipboy clicking away with radiation, he knew radiation was bad but there was not an option to leave the area, he would just need to take it.

He ran back onto the street and saw Preston alive and well by the Museum, Nate was half way down the main road between Preston and the reemerging raiders, but the sound of metal pounding took precedence in their minds, hell they forgot they where fighting once they found the source.

At the far end of the street, behind the raiders a metal street cover was bending outwards, something was bending steel, and the raiders turned just in time to watch it tear forth.

Nate beheld the creature before him, he had never seen a picture but the Wasteland survive guide tipped him off as to what the dinosaur like creature was, t seemed they woke it up, and he was not going to survive this. Nate recalled the passage on Deathclaws.

 _Deathclaws are rare but most certainly real despite what some may try to tell you, reports and stories of these dare I say "Perfect_ _Predators" demolishing settlements and caravans proves this. Contradiction exists among these reports though on what these creatures look like, some say they are more... humanoid in form and stature; others clam they resemble more of a reptilian or animal._

 _These traits are excepted as fact; they are pack and solitary, they have incredibly strong teeth and jaws (as proven by reports by the BoS of males biting power armored limbs off), 8-10 inch razor sharp claws adorn each finger, they have been know to have a toddler level intelligence as well as scarce reports of mimicking human speech, their smell and hearing far surpass even canines, and they are far faster than any other creature in the wastes._

 _Strengths: (Intense strength, Speed, Smell) (mutation rampant) (Radiation immune) (pack and basic intelligence)(Kevlar like hide)_

 _Weaknesses: soft soft spots and_ _explosions_

 _I nor my partner have ever seen one of these creatures though some clam to have killed one in a battle rather then the traditional methods of either bombing them out or starving them._

 _All of this information is pulled from hundreds of reports and Enclave data records though is subject to rapid change due to heavy mutation rate and regional verity._

 _\- John Ronas_

 _Don't fuck with them or you'll get yourself hurt... or dead, which in that case you wont need to worry anymore -Moira Brown._

 _"Mary mother of jesus..._ PRESTON SEAL THE DOOR!" Nate screamed.

Preston wasted no time and in a matter of moments the door was shut leaving Nate and the raiders like fish in a barrel, but nobody moved an inch and neither did the Deathclaw. It was a stalemate of silence and contemplation as they all stood stone still before the monster, it was thinking he could see it in its eyes, the way it looked at them.

"DIE!" finally screamed one of the raiders as he fired his pathetic gun, everyone eyes locked on him for his final moments as the creature moved like lightning and severed him into three layers with a swipe of its hand, as he toppled over it glanced back at the crowd who had long forgotten their fight, it scanned them with its yellow eyes, it must have determined it would win.

With and ear tearing roar it pounced on a raider like a cat on a mouse and ripped down to the bone. Nate and the raiders fired on it with all their might but none of the rounds drew blood from the thick hide, to make matters worse Jared was out of missiles. It shredded them like paper and the bullets where like rubber on its hide.

It grabbed yet another raiders face with its clawed foot and pounded him to the round with a sickening crunch as it bit off Walders torso and it was not stopping for a moment. The raider where dropping like flies twenty where gone and this thing wasn't even bleeding yet, Nate knew the odds, they where not good and every soldier knew retreat was always an option regardless of what the propaganda said.

" _What do I have WHAT DO I HAVE FOR THIS!"_ He frantically thought digging through his weapons.

"Nate... do you remember the time we went to Vegas?"

It was now on Jared, it tore and peeled away at his armor like an onion and soon it would be at the meat, Nate needed a distraction a chance even.

"NORA NOW IS NOT THE TIME!" Nate screamed, is was almost through to Jared... then he would be next in line.

"We went to see a show at the Tops remember, Wilfred the Wizard." She continued as Nate fired in a blind panic. "I loved how he left stage after the show... I loved the whole trip really, do you remember?"

"NOW IS NO-" He stopped himself, he didn't want to die fighting with his wife, even if she wasn't real. He would die here, it would kill him so the least he could give himself was a happy memory.

"I do." He said still firing. "It was my first leave and I called your mom... she told you that you won a lottery and where being flown out to Vegas by its king Mr. House. I was waiting at the terminal." He spoke remembering fondly.

He felt himself breaking, the battle hardened nerves where falling to this terror that filled him, he was scared.

"And the wizard show?"

Jared screamed as the claws finally got to his chest and the creature tried to get his head in its mouth but power armor made him strong, he kicked and punched barely fending it off but he was still going to loose, just prolonging it.

"Ye... yeS HE He" He stuttered over his tears, his hands shook as he tried to use the bolt of the rifle for one last shot, he knew this was it. "He threw down a... a smoke bomb and disappeared right? blinded you and ran aw-"

"I loved that trick." She smiled warmly, then was gone. One last idea struck him.

"Alright Wilfred, I hope your trick works." Nate prayed as he pulled out the Stun grenade. It was ancient, probably a dud by now but if god cared about Nate Howard it would work.

He could now see Jared's exposed ribs, it was playing with him, god it was playing with its food. Nate took his aim at the beast calming himself to steady hand, tailing his target with the iron sights as it moved up and down, then with the squeeze it fired right into the Deathclaws eye, it was now half blind.

It stumbled off the Raider boss and gave a primal roar that shook the earth and forgot all about Jared and the last four raiders, now it wanted him, and Nate could see the hate in its last eye, the acknowledgment that he did this, and it would remember.

It charged and Nate said a prayer, it pounced with a roar and he grabbed hold of its horn, It lifted its head and Nate with it, it whipped around to remove its prey and he pulled off his belt, he strapped it on firm and it clawed at him, he pulled the pin and it flung him across the street.

Nate landed rough against the wall, had it not been for his new helmet he might be dead, But there was no time to rest. He stood and it was almost on him as the grenade detonated with the blinding flash right next to its good eye sending it staggering to the side and it head spinning.

While it was blinded behind him Nate climbed into the trunk of a car and slammed the lid behind him. He was panicking inside, sweating and crying as he heard it walk by the car, its claws scraping on the metal as it did so.

It started sniffing, shaking it for any sound he would make, he muffled his cry's in his arm as it smelled close to his after what felt like hours it grunted and ran leaving Nate trapped in the trunk.

He could see a flashing, it was from the Pipboy, he lifted his arm and found a pop up notice.

 _Congratulates on your newly found SPECIAL score. LUCK 6_

It disappeared and left him on the body screen, multiple arrows pointed around his body and a warning of a near heart attack was given before is arm went limp. It was gone, He knew it but he couldn't stop himself, He started sobbing out loud in the darkness just like he had done so many times, a cool hand wrap around him and knew it was her, she was laying in the trunk with him, at least he wasn't alone.

OoOoOoO

Everybody was silent since the doors shut, even the kids where frozen in fear of what Preston said as they listened to the screams. They waited for it to come like they did, to tear them to pieces and just like that they would be another horror story about Deathclaws. After a loud bang Preston finally came downstairs with Reese, they looked revealed and everybody's laughs turned to sobs at how close they had come.

"We need to go get Nate... Lock the doors behind us." Reese said, but Marcy wasn't having it.

"WHY? WHY WOULD YOU GO OUT THERE FOR THAT IDIOT REESE, WE NEED YOU MORE THAN HIM!" She demanded, it was an insult at best and it got to Preston far to deeply.

"MARCY SHUT THE FUCK UP FOR ONCE." He screamed, he was tried of it, of her and all that she brought to any plan or idea the consent bitching and criticism.

Everybody stared at him like he was crazy but he continued "I DIDN'T SEE YOU FIGHTING TROUGH THE RAIDERS FOR US OR JUMPING OFF OR ROOFS OR FIGHTING DEATHCLAWS SO SHUT THE HELL UP WHILE I GO HELP THE GUY WHO DID!.. Come on Reese."

The last two men followed to lock the doors as they went through the storage to move the pile of things covering the door. Finally where in the lobby but the exit seemed... terrifying.

"Ladies first?" Preston joked. It was childish but it took the edge off, they both grabbed it and inched it open half expecting a Deathclaw to come tearing in, they found the graveyard a worse sight. Filled with mutilated bodies and reeking of piss and death they moved silently to the car they saw him get in from the balcony.

They could hear him, whimpering inside, and it felt wrong to hear him do it and just burst in, So they knocked just as he had done, he knocked back and they opened the trunk. He was a mess.

They pulled him out because he couldn't move well because of a deep cut to the leg and had to calm him as he searched in terror for the Monster. Jared along with the last of the raiders seemed to be gone as well but nobody really cared anymore.

"I guess we know why there aren't any settlements up here."

OoOoOoO

They spent the last of the day getting ready to move again, packing up what they could and piling what they would come back for, burying Jackson, fixing Nate's leg the Deathclaw cut in the fight, puling shrapnel out of his back and trying to calm him, and most of all drinking what little booze they had left to try to sleep the night.

They also searched the raiders, all fifty bodies and it brought them back to stability, single servings of food and unpurified river water would keep them alive a few more days, a mass amount of jet psycho and Buffout, about a two hundred caps they insisted Nate take, random amounts of armor and a few quality side arms, a good amount of shit ammo, a scarce amount of good ammo, and two Stimpaks after fixing Nate on Nates.

They also found the creatures severed horn, the vibration of the grenade must have cracked it off. It was given to Nate and he held onto it as a reminder of the latest addition to his nightmares.

The next day they set out on the short trek back to Nate's home which he said they could stay at as long as they needed, it seemed he never ceased to amazed them, save Marcy.

Some moved slowly along because of injury or where simply old like Murphy and could hardly walk, some moved back and forth to try and get all the item from the museum to the new home while most just hunkered down at Sanctuary too afraid to go out, weather the Deathclaw was still around was a main fear.

But Nate and Preston limped along the road bringing what they could, which was more than Reese wanted either to carry, they laughed and and Preston told stories, they seem to all like they had been friends for ages. They where behind the main group because they guarded the stash until Jun and Whist came to release them and reported to Preston that the road was clear for now, from what they told him of the new place Preston was hopeful.

"So, while I was in the Church tower... Who were you talking too?" Preston asked, he watched Nate flinch and felt he shouldn't push.

Soon they reached the halfway point and found the same dead dog Nate had killed, he told Preston the story and he seemed amused.

"So this dog tried to kill you? Wouldn't that be a shame, you die to a dog before you save us." Preston chuckled.

"Yeah to think I had never had to kill a dog before, it... wasn't fun." Nate admitted

"Wait, how have you never fought a dog, I killed my first mongrel at fifteen" Preston was cut off by Nate's very sudden urges of silence.

"... Shhhh" Nate suddenly urged, Preston got on guard thinking it was an attack, god he was tired of attacks.

Nate walked to a the house, the same one the dog came from, he knew what was inside and on the top floor on a ruined mattress he found them. Five puppy's where whining quietly, these where why the dog fought so hard, she had just given birth.

They where almost starved, two days without their mother had them close they where skinny and freezing cold, looking at them... something inside him turned back on. he grabbed a ruined small rug, scooping them on gently he returned to the street, he needed to get back to Sanctuary.

"Come on Preston!"

"Where did you find dogs Nate!" He questioned as they jogged down the road.

"I killed their mom..."

"Oh."

Nate jogged as fast as he could towards his home, it was not fun on the newly healed leg but soon he was at the bridge and Preston got his first look at Sanctuary, his face lit up, he knew this place had potential. They soon stumbled upon Sturges who was talking to Murphy before they got there and ran to meet them.

"Boss! God am I glad to see you alive." He said hugging Preston then turning to Nate, "I chose the right guy for the job!"

"I don't think you chose me, hows my house?" Nate said matter of factually.

"Not you house, you said its mine if you didn't get back soon enough, so have fun on the street." Nate gave him nothing short of a death glare and Sturges shifted uncomfortably, "I was just kidding, its fine, I even fixed up you robot, his eye and hull I mean."

"Thank you, Now I got to go handle these." He said nodding towards the puppies in his arms. Nate jogged off to the nicest house on the block, repaired fortified and even having some glass still intact.

Once he was out of earshot Sturges became deadly serious, "This guy is more than he seems Preston."

Preston chuckled back "I know I've seen him first hand."

"No, not that."

"Then What?" Preston noticing how serious he was.

"Follow me," He instruct, they walked towards Nate's house and Sturges resumed. "I did some snooping on our hero Preston, Its odd at best."

Preston's mind went wild as he thought about what he met, Nate was a good guy right? Was he a murderer, a cannibal No he didn't seem that type, What did Sturges find? He suspected there was something different, from little thing like him knocking on doors to him speaking to himself in the Church but what.

They walked behind a burned out car in on the side of the house, a tarp lay beside it and Sturges opened the trunk then a storage container.

It was full of photos, how he got photos he didn't know but this was privet. "This is wrong, he saved us and we are digging through his thi-." Sturges shoved a photo of Nate and a woman in Washington like he had seen in the rare book or still readable news paper. It was a good photo and they looked nice and happy for it but nothing seemed inherently wrong.

"You see it?"

"No, I mean its a nice picture of him and his wife but..?"

"The monument is intact Preston."

He was right, the grass was green the trees had leafs and a plane was overhead instead of burned out on the runway.

"Just how old is this guy Preston?"

* * *

 **Thats another** **chapter, I liked this one a lot.**

 **And I know the photo isn't in DC I know but I say it was taken when Nate went for the Metal of Honor and they spent some time together in the capital. In other news somebody DMed me wondering what I think Nate feels about the loss of Nora, if it isn't completely clear he is shattered over it but holds himself together to try and save her.**

 **Next chapter should be out by 4/15.**


	6. Exactly four days late

**This watch is exactly four day's** **late**

* * *

God he was late.

Almost a year and a half had passed for him to get this right and he was late for his wake up day. Leave it to Stockton to call in a favor this week, Nate would need him and he sent a washed out caravan tycoon to help. God only knew what might have happened to his friend by now.

Ben couldn't really be mad at Stockton though, it was all completely out of his control and time was off the essence, it was his daughters life after all, Nate was a soldier, he could handle it.

He had actually managed to save Amelia from the twisted doctor and sent her back with Dan, her father would be more than thankful to have his "Daughter" back safe and sound. Chambers said she was a Synth and she was right, just another ward Stockton took in for the railroad but it was wrong regardless. Torture for Maybe, a chance at finding them wasn't worth it.

It was a long trek from Covenant, all he had left after that whole fiasco was his prized pistol with maybe fifteen 10mm rounds left, his Combat chest plate and thigh plates and half a canteen of water to get to Sanctuary on, everything else had either broken or been lost in the fight with those insane bastards and their doctor. Anything could have killed him on the walk including a mob from the mad town over what he and Dan had to do at the compound, but he got lucky and the roads where clear.

Finally he passing the Red Rocket so at least he was close, but what would he find in the old neighborhood? After the carnage he in Concord he was worried about Nate, what if whatever killed the raiders wandered up this way? No Nate was beyond dangerous, nothing short of a Deathclaw would be able to take him on and even then the whole Chinese army failed, Nate would be fine physically, but mentally?

Benjamin remembered his first few weeks back in the world, he didn't stay at Nate's house, Codsworth didn't recognize his voice and threatened to come turn him to chop him up, Ben couldn't fight a Handy unarmed so he stayed in one of the ruined homes until he had to move on from Sanctuary to survive, so he started to work his way to Boston in hopes of finding Shaun.

Starving and almost dead of radioactive water, scared to even sleep, and he hadn't even lost his wife... Nate would be fine he reminded himself.

He had finally made it to the bridge, it was so old and ruined, half was falling in on itself but it seemed so recently that he drove over the pristine wood to his friends trophy home to tell him he was moving out her, he never could have guessed how long he would stay.

He walked down the street and it seemed someone had done some cleaning, a pile of broken furniture and garbage was in the street and candles where in some of the windows, Nate had neighbors?

He finally saw someone in front of the home next to Nate's sitting on a cinder block with a pot over a fire, they were oblivious to him right now but he felt he shouldn't sneak up on them.

"Hello there!" He waved, the woman's head shot up and she pulled a gun on him.

"Who are you?" She demanded, Ben put his hands up.

"A drifter here to see a friend ma'am, if you could lower the gun please?" She did so but didn't put it away keeping a firm grip on it.

"The only guy who lives here is Howard, damn psycho" She snorted. Who where these people and what the hell was she talking about?

"I'm here to see Nate actually... Why are you here?"

"Long story involving your friend but I can't speak for the group. Your friends in his house but be careful... hes dangerous." She warned, Ben snickered at the understatement about Nate, but why She thought so was worrying. He needed to know more about these people before he felt safe.

"So who is in charge?"

"Depends on who you ask, We say Preston, Preston says Nate and Marcy says herself." The woman said going back to stirring the mush in the pot. Preston was probably the best bet for info with how she said it.

"Alright so wheres Preston then?"

"Over there" She pointed to a yellow house across from Nate's home "You can't miss him, hes the one dressed in the Minuteman uniform."

"A minuteman?" He was shocked to say the least.

"Yep."

From what he knew, the militia of the people had fallen a year or two before he got out of the vault but he had heard stories of them, even living next to a retired Colonel in bunker hill. He was proud of what they had done, it really gave him hope to see people fight back the evil that ran so rampant in the world now.

Ben moved deeper into the neighborhood and peered inside the house's he passed, it seemed there where far more people than he had assumed, mostly woman and the scarce child, they looked run down and tired. He pushed meeting Nate off a few more minutes, he now knew he was safe but he needed to know more about the situation, mobs where dangerous, and there seemed to be tension involving Nate.

He got himself to the home the woman pointed out and waited outside, they where arguing in there and scaring them wouldn't help, he already knew how jumpy these people where. So he stood in the door with his hands viable and waited for them to see him while listening to there squabbles.

OoOoOoO

"I know Sturges but does he even want use here. He lives here alone I feel like we are intruding." Preston insisted, Sturges had his heart set on this place but after this morning people where not of the same opinion.

"Stop trying to avoid it Preston" Hissed Marcy. "He almost killed Rachael last night he's an animal and he has to go!" She bitched, she had been on him all morning about Mr. Howard's... incident.

"She wasn't even close to dead Marcy that's bullshit" Reese interjected.

"What right do we have to throw him out of his house? She broke in and we're squatters Marcy why do you hate him?" He demanded, how could he let them through him from his own home after he allowed them to stay?

"You want to know why? Hes dangerous you saw what he did to those raiders what if he wants US gone next? There's not shit you could do to stop him and you know it!" She barked back. "We can't move again, we lose so many every time and Sturges is right this place is perfect for us, the only problem is HIM" She pointed in the detraction of Nate's home.

"Marcy we can't just make him leave, Preston is right it wasn't his fault he was probably scared." Jun tried to calm his wife but she wouldn't listen to him anymore.

Preston was reminded of how bad he felt for Jun, he broke down after Quincy and his son's death leaving Marcy emotionally alone for almost a year and a half in his depression, he had been stable for the past seven months too but it was too late for her, she just became too bitter towards him. He survived it all though, that had to count for something, one of the last five men left throughout all the battles and years.

"Of course you would sympathies with weakness Jun." She hissed. "As far as I'm concerned you shouldn't even be in this room."

"Back off Marcy or your out too, anybody is allowed to be in these meetings it the rules." Preston defended. "Now we need to speak to Nate about all this, its still his home despite what Some people say."

"Guys... We have a visitor." Reese said pointing towards the door.

"Hello."

Preston turned to find a Ghou... A man, standing in the doorway watching them. He had a pistol on his belt and high grade armor adorned his chest and legs, he gave a simple wave to them. The normal burns covered his body and he was bald like most, but his voice was not nearly as rough as most ghoul's where. How long he had been standing there he didn't know but he seemed friendly enough, now they just needed to know who he was.

"Hello?" He stammered turning back to the others, they seemed just as confused. "Hello there stranger... how, are you doing?" Preston asked, god it was awkward the way he said it but what was he supposed to say to the guy who just appeared.

"My name is Benjamin Montgomery, just needed to get that out of the way so you didn't have to do anymore painful conversation starters." He said with a light smile, he walked inside but kept a respectful distance and his hands clear of the weapon. He stopped talking a few moments seemingly thinking about his next move. "I can't help but notice the hostility towards Nate."

"Yes I suppose you could call it that, There was an incident today yeah but we still wont know what happened until Rachael wakes up. And for the record I wouldn't call it hostility." He explained to the man.

"Glad to hear it. so what did he do?" Benjamin asked straightforwardly. Preston could tell there was concern in his voice, this man knew Nate and was sizing them up, but there was no sense in making enemies with him yet.

"Tell him what you told me Reese"

Reese stepped forward "Well... I'll start at the beginning. Rachael was sent to get Nate this morning for a meeting we where having, we wanted to stay here you see, but felt we should ask him first." He explained, Benjamin listened intently.

"It was about six in the morning and he didn't answer her knocks but his robot was outside and let here in. A few moments later we hear a scream and then He came running out in his underwear with her sobbing in his arms, gave her to me while he was shaking like a leaf in a storm pail as a ghost and ran back to his house." he continued. "She had a dislocated arm and a broken collarbone, passed out soon after he dropped her off without telling us what happened." Reese finished.

The Man's face flashed shock before going back to the stony cover it had been previously, yet Preston saw it, the recognition, what Reese said sent a red flag through the Ghoul.

"All we want to know is what happened." Preston reassured the man but Marcy butted in yet again.

"He Tried To Kill Her! He is DANGEROUS and know some damn Ghoul comes, says their friends and your not worried. His friend the zombie shows up right after an attack on one of our friends a-" Preston had heard enough

"MARCY GET THE HELL OUT." He demanded.

"WHY THE HELL SHOULD I?" She retorted.

"You can say what you want about any of us, But I will not let you insult this man for his appearance and try to spread propaganda about Mr. Howard all so you can throw him out of his home!" Preston yelled standing over her.

For the first time in a while she seemed scared, the outburst must have shocked her and it made Preston slightly proud. After a moment she barged out shoving Mr. Montgomery in the process.

"I am so sorry about that." Jun said to the uncomfortable looking Ben.

"It's fine." He said waving it off. "But I need to talk to Nate."

"So do I, I'll walk with you, That is if you don't mind." Preston asked, Ben gave a nod so Preston joined him across the street.

"My name is Preston Garvey of the Commonwealth Minutemen by the way." Preston extended his hand, Benjamin looked confused for a moment, like he hadn't shook hands in a long time before finally taking it with a firm grip.

"Benjamin Montgomery, Do you know a Colonel Sean Baybush by any chance."

Preston he hadn't seen or heard from The burning bush in years, "I do! How do you know him is he alive?" He found himself demanding answers about the retired Minuteman without really thinking. Not many where left, retired or otherwise after they had been hunted by raiders, to hear Baybush was still kicking? Preston would need his help.

"He's alive and well in Bunker Hill working a stand, though he's heartbroken about the fall... I think he will be glad to hear your alive next happy hour, old man could use something to smile over." Ben replied. Preston felt a little hope.

They arrived at Nate's door and Preston waited for Benjamin to knock, but he hesitated. Preston decided to do it and imitated the light respectful knocks he had heard Nate do time after time.

 _"Fuck,_ Coming"

It almost seemed Benjamin was sweating to Preston if that was even possible, it looked like he feared a conversation with this man just as much as he did.

Nate opened the door and Preston felt the dread pouring off of him over this conversation, but his mood changed remarkably fast once he saw Benjamin. His face contorted with terror briefly and he stepped back grabbing a pistol, had he never seen a ghoul? Preston swore he said they where friends how could Nate act like this.

"Anchorage!" Ben blurted as he went to protect the Ghoul, where did Preston know that word... he did know.

Nate froze a moment and his eyes narrowed on the ghoul beside him, he was looking for something in his face Preston knew that look, it seemed he found it when he cracked a grin that broke into a laugh dropping the gun to the floor.

"Benjamin." He spoke warmly as he embraced the ghoul who seemed taken aback by the contact, but soon Ben returned it breaking a few tears as he did. It seemed they where friends after all.

"Nate, I fucking missed you." The ghoul laughed as Nate broke off the hug, he looked Ben over once more.

"Come inside buddy..." Nate lead Mr. Montgomery inside and it almost seemed he had forgotten about Preston until he peaked him head back out. "That means you too Preston." He felt a little warm knowing Nate found him a friend as well.

He hadn't yet been inside Nate's house, words could not describe its splendor, Sturges had told him it was nice but he couldn't imagine it like this. Clean windows and hardwood, furniture in amazing condition, photos and papers on shelf's and a roof still above with clean carpet... Preston needed to get a Mr. Handy before they all died out.

"Alright, Preston I think I can guess what this is about." It took him a moment to pull his eyes off the house before he answered.

"People all scared over it Nate, what the hell happened?

Nate dug through a trunk on the floor until he found a half bottle of water, Preston was good at reading people and he could feel how distraught Nate was over it. "... I Cant... I don't know what happened, I woke up and she was crying on the floor of my room." Nate explained never turning around, he could see Benjamin grimace.

Preston felt he really didn't know by the uncertainty of his voice so that only left one other person who did, and what she had to say would heavy sway the next few days.

"Alright then, I guess we'll wait for Rachael" He said, but on is way out he felt he should let Nate in the loop. "I should tell you Marcy is trying to get people against you, but I wont let her do anything stupid Nate."

"Tell her I'm sorry."

"I will."

Preston let himself out to leave the friends alone, he was the cause of the tension after all. In a moment he was back to the yellow house, Jun was still there speaking with Mama Murphy about why she couldn't "Just see where the Chems from the Raiders where" and how they intended to sell them off for caps to buy food with, he just chuckled as he passed.

The bathroom was Reese's make shift 'infirmary' and it seemed Rachael had woken up, She stopped Speaking when he entered and glanced at Reese, he seemed concerned.

"I'm sorry but would you mind if I told Preston what you told me?" Reese asked. She nodded so He got up and lead him to the room across the hall and shut the old door.

"She says Nate was asleep and it sounds like he was having nightmares, she tried to wake him up and he jumped her." Reese explained.

"Wow... Then, is it really his fault?" He wondered aloud.

"In my opinion, No" Reese stated firmly, he knew his word was held in high regard and if he said so, Preston believed him.

" Imagine it this way, you living alone for who knows how long then finding someone wake you up, and after a Deathclaw nearly fucked you? it was an accident, he was probably scared witless." He knew Reese was right, Nate didn't really have any control over those few moments. "She forgave him and there's no long term damage so I think everything is fine, but Preston, Marcy wont forget this, she has it in for him and this is just more fuel."

"Alright I'll go tell the others what really happened. I think it's time for a vote, could Rachael come explain I think it would help?" He asked the Doctor.

"I think she will," He agreed "You really want to keep close to the knight in shining armor huh?"

"Can you blame me?" He laughed. "But soon we really need to talk to Nate about all this, the photos and the house and even this new guy... Benjamin that was it, he could know something too."

"Alright, after the vote then." He said as he walked back to the infirmary. "And hey, if we vote to move on then we wont have to worry about it any more."

OoOoOoO

Nate handed him the water bottle as Preston left and he found himself... uncomfortable, not about Nate, no it was about, well it was about Nate, really about Nate's perception of him. He really was a different man than the one Nate had fought so hard to get in the vault, the wasteland did that to people and Ben was no exception, he needed to know his friend could accept him like this.

"Nate I need to know your not scared of me, God I know it sounds pathetic but, just put my mind at ease." He pleaded."I don't want a gun pulled on me every time you see me."

Nate looked him over once more, head to toe and deep into the ink black eyes he now saw the world through and Ben felt more exposed than he ever had, like Nate was gazing into his very soul like it was nothing. Then he gave another smile and started a story.

"I bought a book from Stockton, on that first horrible night." Nate explained as he sat down on the table.

"I read about all kinds of things from Raiders to 'Super Mutants' to... Deathclaws," He explained with a violent shutter. "Ghouls too. Exposed to heavy amounts of Radiation except... they don't die like most would. The book had a number of theories as to why they don't but nobody really knows. Their skin falls off as do their ears and nose Yes, and their voices get deeper too." Ben remembered all of this.

"But not once did I read that they Really Change, become different people or monsters. Now I was scared Ben, can you really blame me I'd never seen you like this, but Your still my battle buddy Benjamin, my best friend and a few scars doesn't change that." Relieved wasn't strong enough a word for what Ben felt, Nate could look past the wretched skin and black eyes. "But I do wanna know how it happened in less than two years, the book said it takes a lifetime of radiation exposure to cause Ghoulification."

Ben recalled it all for a moment then began his tale, he hated telling it but Nate would need to know if only as a reminder of how much it had all changed while he was asleep.

He told Nate of how he woke up in the frozen vault after Nora and Shaun's pod was opened and couldn't get Nate out to help him, but his was different than the others pods and was set to open next year rather than 2300. How Nora's pod had been opened two years prior to his which was something Nate had not thought to check, Shaun was Three now.

He continued after Nate's shocked outburst to tell of how he left the Notes and came to Sanctuary, but Codsworth had never really met him and didn't recognize his voice threatening to **_"TURN YOU TO BITS"_** Never even opening the door.

"Speaking of which, where the hell is the damn chrome bitch, I need to have a word."

"I sent him to clean the house's for Preston, it wasn't his fault, he was just following orders."

"Fuck it."

He moved on, on towards Boston to try and find people and and a lead on Shaun. Food was rare and far between on the sum Thirty mile trek to the city and he moved slowly out of fear of the creatures he had seen in the woods, though he avoided trouble by sneaking around like he had in Anchorage and moving only at night. He told of Raiders and feral ghouls that he fought only so rarely and of how all the water burned his throat and how he was going mad without anybody to tell him he wasn't in hell.

Finally he made it to Cambridge and thought he was safe but found only more trouble in the Boston ruins, how the bright blue jumpsuit attracted the trouble of anybody he saw, Raiders and Traders alike who all wanted to take advantage of the fresh meat, which is all why he told Nate to destroy the damned leather target. He survived it all until he made one slip.

He recalled the best day of the nightmare thus far, he had met a good man on the road trading Chems, which he would have bought to feel calm for just a moment but he had no money. He ate with him and he told him about caps and the world around him and of Diamond City, the "Greatest City left in the world, man" then told him he had a stall there and was just out looking for ingredients.

They parted and Ben finally felt good, He had a lead and a friend now. But as he ate the last can of spam he could find he heard a woman screaming.

He shot up as it echoed through the ruins and rushed to find and help her, god he hated himself for it but he went to help her. He found evil men doing... unspeakable, things to her in the streets below, even though he only had a tire iron to his name he attacked them.

He was beaten and ruined but she got away, though he was not so lucky. He later found they where slavers who all found 'Vault meat' to be the easiest to break and sell. He got away days later but took a bullet to the stomach to do it, running it off until he couldn't anymore he found a office building that seemed empty and crawled to the basement, he found a tool chest and duck taped it shut but he knew he was as good as dead, so he passed out knowing he failed.

How many days he slept was anybody's guess but he woke up. The first thing he did was check the wound, it was gone so he figured it was a miracle from god and moved on. Then his hair started falling out, then his nails and the vomiting, then coughing and pissing blood, and finally the burns covered his body and he started dying all over again. Only months later did he go back to the building to find its fusion reactors core was leaking and had poured radiation on him for days while he slept.

Finally he made it to Diamond city but he was too far along to be let inside, his skin was falling off by that point. He begged for someone to help him, It was pitiful but eventually it worked and a guard came out named Danny. He explained what was happening to the vault man, he said he would either die or become a ghoul and would let him stay just outside the city walls in a burned out shop until either happened. He brought him food and water and even the jobs the guard was to busy to take just to help.

So he worked odd jobs for the city while never entering, Danny would find it through the back up work log and work as a middle man, things like finding paint and bring baseball memorabilia for caps until he bought a rifle and got work as a caravan guard for a insane woman named Cricket. He hopped off that job after a Super Mutant attack that took the rest of the guard and was dropped of at a town called Goodneighbor.

He worked as a Gun for hire and had a Partner in the tough Chem empire, even got in good with the mayor but moved on again until he found himself at bunker hill with enough cash to buy a small house and started worked for crickets boss Stockton. By then Nate was almost awake so he started saving up for gear and food for his friend to get him in the world.

He then told of how Stockton fucked the whole plan over with a favor to save his daughter. How he worked Covenant over until he found their secret and saved Amelia from synth hysteria which was why he was late to begin with, Nate understood.

All along the way he asked, searched, and listened for a trace of Shaun but he never found a trail of the boy or the men who stole him, the only thing he ever got was that there was a detective out there who never failed, but he lived in the one place Ghouls weren't welcome, Diamond city, so he never met him.

"And that's the last two or so years..." He finished the tale. Nate was deep in thought, it was really a lot to take in.

"I searched everywhere I could Nate I really did but nobody had seen a little boy. Hell now that I think about it I couldn't even answer most of the questions about what happened, I could only see you and half a hazmat, You know more than me about who took him Nate, what did you see?" Shame filled him as he told his friend he failed.

"You never saw them?" Nate questioned.

"No, the pod didn't give me a very good view."

"A group of Three, two hazmat and one... He was balding and had a scar across his face, He shot Nora and grabbed him. Looked me dead in the eyes after that." His friend explained, Pain dripped from his voice as he recalled the murder of his wife... but he wasn't as ruined as he should have been, Nate was stable.

"That's more than I had to go one, We can still find him Nate"

"I will find him," Nate confirmed, he got up and moved into the kitchen where it seemed he had stored the food he sent and took a box of potatoes, poring them into a bowl and dumping in the water Nate asked yet another question. "I have to ask because I've heard it so much the last few days, what he hell Is a Synth?"

If only Nate knew how complicated that was, Ben could hardly explain what he didn't really know well himself. "A Synth, Its a machine for lack of a better word. They come from the Institute and the best of them are indistinguishable from us while the others just work like tools and look just like robots from old Silver Shroud stories." He explained, how could Nate ever understand until he saw one. "Their not all bad though, their really just slaves used to do all kinds of bad things across the Wastes, and nobody really knows what the Institute's reasons are though." He finished with the general Railroad spiel

"Alright, so they're tools used by 'The Institute' for, bad things?" He mocked.

"They are used for espionage, murder and general terror of the people, they come in the night and wipe out whole settlements and can replace you with a synth for no other reason than they can and nobody will ever know Nate, those are the bad things." He shot back, it really wasn't an appropriate reaction to it but Nate couldn't just go around thinking like that.

"Damn Ben, alright then, I'm sorry." He sheepishly apologized holding his neck.

"Its fine Nate just... don't mock this, its more dangerous than anything you've seen before."

He watched Nate eat the old powder-tatos in silence, he was holding up well to all this change, better than most. But this was Nate he was talking about, the man they dropped in enemy territory with a pistol and orders to take down a artillery array and he got it done, this was just another mission to him like all the others, and he just adapted.

He couldn't get over how Normal he was acting, just eating in his house with his son missing like this, but what could he really expect him to do? Run off into the wild wastes full of monsters and tear it all apart until he found him, no he was smarter than that. Something strange seemed to happen mid meal, he turned and stared at the seat across from himself, almost like he was listening to something, some one. He gave a nod and turned back to Benjamin.

"Your wondering about her, aren't you?" He asked putting the bowl in the sink. He was right, Ben Was wondering, but that was just Nate's uncanny Perception at work, no point in trying to lie to him.

"Your right... She's gone now and I just need to know your gonna make it." He confessed.

Nate flinched at the term 'Gone' then he closed up and the facade crumbled. He glanced back at the chair for something that wasn't their and tears filled his eyes when he didn't find it, but he pulled it together fast, like always. "I'm gonna save her Monty, I know I can I-We, will save Nora." He was worse off than he thought.

By now he was pacing across the room and Ben followed him, resting his hand back on his brothers shoulder, he would be here for him no matter what but he needed to set him strait "Nate... she's gone, you know that you hav-"

"NO SHE'S NOT!" Nate shouted causing Ben, he had overstepped and quickly regained his composure. "Benjamin... we where all dead. The pods killed us and kept us fresh like meat for two hundred years,"

"Nate-"

"Then they thawed us out and shocked us like Frankenstein and we where back. Think about it,"

"Nate you have to let her g-"

"-if we where just asleep the whole time how would we not have died from age Ben?" Nate pushed

"I DON'T KNOW NATE BUT YOU CANT JUST TURN LIFE BACK ON YOUR ACTING CRAZY!" he yelled, this had gone to far.

"HOW COULD I NOT BE CRAZY BEN?" Nate screamed, tear welling in his eyes again. Ben took a mental step back, how Could he expect Nate to be fine? "Jesus Christ I'm two hundred years in the future my son and wife are gone Benjamin... Along with my whole FUCKING WORLD Ben... and I know I can fix it but you wont even listen." He cried

"...Fine" He grinded out. Nate took a deep breath.

"I was bleeding when I went in Benjamin, I came out with I came out with the same wounds,- it can be done Ben... I can save her."

"... Well then, God damn it this is wrong, how would you do this Nate?" He couldn't just leave his friend alone in this endeavor, but could he even really follow?

"The wound didn't heal; I didn't bleed out over all that time either Benjamin, She was alive but dying when she froze but the pod killed us all anyways, she still has enough blood frozen in her... that if someone could fix the shot we could revive her Ben!" Nate pleaded, not really to Ben though, to him self more like.

It was all erratic but he followed the train of thought. It was gruesome, wrong even to think about these kind of thing, tampering with life like a mad doctor from an old book... But the more he thought about it, the more it made sense, how the pods worked, how he hadn't bled out and even how they could fix her, but would it work.

"Nate, your forgetting a few things," he interjected, Nate stopped to listen.

"One, she was shot, the pods brought us back right after we thawed but a doctor cant work if she's frozen so it would all need to be done after she thaws. Two, I have never met a doctor who can do that kind of work now a days. and three..." He didn't know how to say it, it would hurt him but Nate needed to hear it before he even tried to start this crusade. "People can't always be revived, Nate you know that."

"... I know Ben... But what did Chase say to everybody? 'The man who never tries is more worthless then the one who always fails" He quoted the General.

He couldn't stop Nate, he loved her more than his own life and it showed. From the first time he met her on leave he was smitten, carried a picture of her everywhere he went. It was his one goal, survive to be with her, it carried him through the whole war, Not God, Not Country, her. And now she was gone.

Everybody thought he was crazy, obsessed with her, and Ben did too until he was next to him on his wedding day and saw her, and she was just as in love with him. She kept a photo too by her bed, and she waited for him, it seems simple but she did, Nate was deployed six years with one week a year to see her and she waited it all for him knowing at any moment he could die.

And now he was fighting for her one last time

"Its okay Nate but, you might not be able to do it, and you have to be okay with that." Ben said, all he could do was be honest with him.

"I know, and Shaun needs me right now... Nora will have to wait." It was the first lucid moment he had seen and it made him stand a little easier to see he remembered his son. "But there's a timer on those pods life spans Ben, I have maybe a year to find a doctor."

This was it, the precipice, he could shut this all down, Make him move on, or he could follow him down the road of battle like he had so many time before. One sentence swayed his course , one thing they always said to the new men on the squad, _'Nate never fails, he never dies, so its best to stand behind him'_ He would always stand behind this man.

"Then lets get moving."

"Not yet, I need to make sure Preston and the others are settled before I leave." Nate said moving down the hall.

Benjamin followed suit and came into Nate and Nora's room, clean as the rest of the house but it smelled like wet dog, The reasons where asleep on his mattress. A bundle of new born puppies rested on the bed, no mutation or damage was in sight but it really made him wonder, what the fuck had Nate been up to?

"Where on gods great Earth did you find puppies Nate?" Ben asked amazed, the only dogs he had seen where the ones that tried to kill him or the ones being bread for outrageous caps, the odds of Nate coming across some where too low to count.

"On the walk back from Concord." He said pulling on his boots.

"What walk to Concord? I told you to stay put did you even see what happened to those raiders?"

"All too well."

"What where you even doing down there" I heard that bitch talking about how there is nothing they could do to stop you?"

"Ask Preston and Sturges, they could tell it better than I could." Nate joked. "But are they really scared of me?"

"Only some, it feels like that Marcy woman is pushing some sort of agenda, but yeah they are a little on edge." He explained, but the whole thing was off, Nate hurting someone with that move? "I know that diagnosis Nate," He knew it the moment he heard the arm and collarbone, they practiced it for years in case of a Chinese attack in the night. "You used a Suiway flip on her what the hell where you thinking!"

"... I was having a nightmare, she startled me." A nightmare wasn't enough for Nate to loose control like that, he would need to keep an eye on this.

Once he was standing he scooped up one of the dogs who started to whine and cradled it as he move to the door again.

"Okay, aside from that here's the plan, In a few days once you get these people settled we'll go to see this detective in Diamond City and find Shaun, I'm sure he know the wasteland and the people who would do this better than anybody we know."

"I'm sure he does."

OoOoOoO

"All those who vote to stay."

Most Everybody raised there hands.

"Then its final."

Sturges sighed in relief, god he wanted to stay here, he had a thousand ideas for what they could do with it all but this was still the Minuteman and that meant democracy, so everybody, even Marcy, got their say. But to his luck everybody wanted to after Preston and Rachael explained what happened with Nate and how it wasn't really his fault.

Marcy didn't bother showing up she just claimed the best house to be hers and hers alone, that battle would have to wait. Jun didn't live with her these day and she stopped wearing her ring, so he would stay with the last of the men in the yellow house while the woman and kids where divided on either side of Nate.

The group scattered to do as they would as Preston, Reese and himself walked to have the talk about Nate himself.

They went over all they really had on him, a few photos of the past and his large kill count wasn't a lot so they only had hunch's and a guess.

"We really just need to ask him, we'll never get anywhere like this." Preston said standing up. It was clear he was done just sitting around and wondering about all this, he needed to know.

"That's all well and good but what if he looses it?" Reese said standing as if to challenge him.

"Fella's," Sturges stood himself up to match. "We all know Nate isn't a bad guy right? if he doesn't want to talk we wont push, but I think we have a right at ask, don't you?" He questioned Reese, who gave a reinforcing nod.

The trio walked to Nate's home and knocked on his door but an answer was refused as the noise echoed through the hollow house. Sturges gave it a little more power before the robot hovered past on the street carrying a skeleton in a bucket, it clearly had no idea how grotesque it looked doing so but it was simply cleaning the area.

 ** _"The Suh of the home and his baked friend, for lack of a better word, have gone to see a Miss Rachael, down the road. He shall be home shortly or you may wish to follow."_** It said in a thick accent nobody could place as it went about its task.

"Well I hope that's going well." Sturges joked, how Nate openly walking alone after all that had happened would be taken was not very clear yet, Marcy did have her sympathizers.

"I don't know how she will react to seeing him," Reese stated

"We all know he's safe, and it is still his home we only chose to stay here." Preston reestablished.

They found the tail end of the scene down the road, Rachael was swaddling a puppy in arms and Nate spoke to her, she seemed happy with the conversation and that put Reese and Preston at ease. He finished up and walked to them intent to speak.

"Hey Preston," He said with a smile, giving nod to the other two to his side. "I was just coming to speak to you about a few things about this community your going to make and see how I could help." He said genuinely happy to Preston, who cut it all short.

"I need to talk to you first." Preston said firmly.

Sturges was glad Preston took charge of this, he would have but he had a bad habit of changing the subject while speaking to somebody who could kill him, and Reese was very, excitable, yet only outside of the blood and guts oddly enough.

"Okay? wheres this going?" Nate asked.

"How... Fuck, how old are you Nate where are you from and how long have you lived here?" He finally asked.

To say Nate turned hostile would be the wrong word, his eyes narrowed on Preston then the other two as his face turned rather dramatically, but it wasn't hostile, more cautious. He glanced around to see who could have heard and grabbed Preston's arm who gave a fearful flinch, though he would never show fear and started dragging him towards the ghoul who was down the street.

Reese reached for his Sequoia but Sturges stopped him, nothing had really happened yet and they didn't need to start shooting.

"Benjamin we need to talk with you." Nate urged his friend who was speaking to Rachael.

"Whats wrong." He turned to his friend and seeing the look on both men's faces, Sturges knew they stumbled upon something they shouldn't have. "Oh, one of those talks."

Nate, along with Ben and Preston, moved away from the group with Reese and himself in tow, Nate was the first to speak. "I don't want you to be worried Preston, but yelling by business to the streets is not something I am not Okay with." He said firmly, "That being said... I feel you have a right to know since you will be living here." It seemed the Ghoul would argue but Nate shot the glance Sturges could only say was his signature and he moved past it.

"What the hell is going on Nate, tell us about the pictures and the dog tags and the house."Preston pushed again.

"How did they find out Nate?" The ghoul said rather angry.

"Sturges must have done some snooping while I was in Concord." Nate told him.

"Nate, what the hell where you doing in Concord Stop dodging it?" Ben pushed again.

"He was saving our ass's from a hoard of Raiders, that what." Reese interrupted.

"YOU JUST CAN'T SIT ONE FIGHT OUT CAN YOU, MR. ANCHORAGE HERO, I told you not to tell anybody anything!"

"What are you talking about?" Sturges demanded. "Ancient wars Now?"

With a snap Preston spoke again, "That's where I knew that Word!"

"I didn't tell them anything Benjamin."

"Lets talk about this inside." The Ghoul suggested gesturing towards Nate's house. It seemed the best Idea, so they all nodded and moved into Nate's home as the sun dipped under the forest tops, intent to talk about this until everybody knew what the fuck was going on, even if it took all night.


	7. Boston Marathon

**So.**

 **I know I said I would get the next chapter up a few days ago but an hour later my buddy asked if I wanted to hike eighty miles through the mountains with him and I said sure, so now we're here. I wont lie to you I probably wont have chapter 8 up for another week because I suck like that, but I DID add to this chapter and that is why my story is at the top of your subscribed updated list again. Re-read the last half and enjoy.**

 **-WhiskyFalls.**

* * *

 **Then naming of this chapter refers to the annual sporting event and bares no reference to the tragedy it has become entangled with.**

 **Boston** **Marathon**

* * *

It was late, they had let it get late. It took an hour of argument between Nate and Benjamin to even get started and another for everybody to agree to tell their story rather then a fumbled mess of points and facts, a list of which each person had and insisted on being a focus.

So Preston started, the olive branch for his part. He explained the Minutemen, the fall and the run, all his battles, victories and losses in plan grey text. A silent reverence fell over his companions as he recalled lost friends and bygone days. He was honest and it went a far way with the Ghoul.

Then Sturges, how he ran, how he found Nate and got help. Reese told the next part, The museum and the Lexington raiders all in plain terms as always, facts only. The raiders goal to take an elderly woman from the group hostage and the leaders familiarity with her, a prospect Benjamin scoffed at seeing no real reasoning behind it like most of them, and their desire to see Preston's head on a spike.

The final part of their story was told simply and by Preston and Reese and their view of Nate's heroic rescue mission, of Nate's slaughter of the raiding party Benjamin had come across, he had a feeling it had been him, in the first twenty four hours of leaving the vault. But one point of the tale put the ghoul on edge, his friends probable new nemesis, in the form of a Lexington Raider Boss, Jared; a vengeful and seasoned man who would surly never forget him.

It was a story Benjamin did not enjoy hearing and liked even less because, as it turned out, he had penned a letter to Nate telling him not to leave his home. But they insisted he didn't go to hard on him and he finally agreed saying Nate had never listened to him anyways.

After a brief outburst by Benjamin the stick was passed to the two friends, the whole of it being told by the recently calmed ghoul. Nate, for his part scarcely said anything, the most they got from the home owner was simple clarification to parts of the tale only he would know and a rare gruff at Benjamin's angered recollections.

"So to summarize," He stood from his seat and moved to the center of the circle clenching his nose, a headache coming on. "You two are... what? Time travelers from before the war who only just woke up in a vault a mile from here?" Nate sat only a few feet away sipping at a glass of water, he nodded. "And you two are the sole survivors," he accented receiving another nod.

Even after the telling ended some points still didn't add up, or they brushed over very vaguely meaning they didn't want him to know; What did they do for the U.S. military that lead to Ben calling Nate a war hero? What happened in the vault to wake them up, the vault was something they avoided all together only stating it had something to do with freezing people. What became of the other people from the vault? Who had Nate spoken to in the church... Another topic Nate avoided at all costs. And what did they intend to do now?

It all stacked up in a pile of avoided topics, information that was withheld from him, and secrets. He hated secrets. But the fact that they even told him anything was enough for now, though he would find out more later on, but it would be when Nate trusted him.

"And you only just entered the world again Nate. Benjamin, being only a year more experienced... and in that time managed to get ghoulified." The fastest Ghoulification Reese had ever heard of as he said, a years worth of exposure only. It causing the doctor to sink into an even fouler mood he had been building since the start of their half of the story.

"That's right." Benjamin confirmed.

In all this there was however a bright side, a uplifting ray Preston had to contentiously oppress at the moment until this was settled.

"So just how old are you Nate?" Reese asked from the couch. It had been a long while since he had smoked, a few years even, and yet there he was puffing on a cigarette he had procured from Nate.

"Well... Do you measure age by the body? The soul? Or the date?" Sturges interjected, he seemed to be the only one who had any grasp on the time travel so far, and seemed to believe it was almost normal, unlike the smoking doctor.

Preston really didn't want to debate philosophy right now, he wanted dates "Lets say Body."

Preston didn't expect him to answer it like nearly all the direct questions that had come before. But in a pleasant surprise he spoke up.

"By that standard I'm twenty-seven as far as I know."

"Soul then." Reese pushed again.

"But does the soul age when your asleep like they where or only by experience, or some other way entirely?" Sturges asked, again putting them back a few steps.

"WHO'S SIDE ARE YOU ON STURGES? AND CUT THE PHILOSOPHY SHIT, WHEN WHERE YOU BORN NATE?" Reese finally yelled shooting up from his seating in a burst of anger.

Sturges put his hand up silencing Nate before he could speak and stood to match Reese. "Now hold on, I wasn't aware we where taking sides Reese?" He shot back, Preston really didn't need another fight between the two. "Why has this become so big for you, why does this story make them the enemy when just an hour ago he was a hero in your eyes."

The headache spiked in pain from the yelling and Preston too snapped. They tended to do it from time to time but he would not allow it right now, "Shut up both of you." He hissed, they both glared at him but took their seats. At least they still listened when he yelled, he thought then continuing.

"We will discus all this later. We are here now, to talk to Nate and Benjamin. Nate will you please tell us, it doesn't really matter but I would like to know." He even gave a small smile just to help.

"I was born on the twenty fifth of February, two thousand and sixty..." He explained with a blank stare.

"Damn..." Sturges gasped in the following silence. "Two hundred and thirty seven years old... Imagine the things you know that the rest of the world forgot" Sturges wondered in amazement, it seemed he found the uplifting ray as well.

"Imagine how shitty it seems to the time traveler." Reese grumbled, reminding him that he was still in a fowl mood.

"Gentlemen," Benjamin addressed standing up and walking to the door. "It has been a pleasure to tell our insignificant tale and to hear how Nate ran into the blue to save you but I think its time to call it a night, Shall we leave Nate to his own for whatever is left of the evening?" He said almost ushering them towards he door. They all unanimously followed him and he closed the door behind him leaving Nate alone for the night.

Once the door was shut he spoke again "I need to ask you all to never do that again." The ghoul growled in a sudden rage.

Shock and fear lead him to reach for his own weapon as they all stood frozen on Nate's porch by the seeming threat. They all looked to the ghoul to elaborate the budding threat.

"What do you mean?" Preston finally had to ask before anybody escalated this rather tinny issue, they all where to on edge to hand this reasonably.

"He saved you from raiders, fought a Deathclaw, and maybe just made a new god damn arch nemesis in a raider boss whose body you couldn't find all in one week. He watched his world burn and had his s-" He stopped himself before releasing one of those hidden secrets he wanted to know. "Leave him alone for now." The man huffed releasing his gun.

Preston almost didn't notice he was holding it until he released it.

"You think its going to break him?" He inquired with concern for his new found friend.

He had seen plenty of people broken over the years but Nate didn't strike him as the type, though Benjamin would know him better then himself and if he was concerned, he would respect it.

"I don't know... Look I trust you all enough to feel I can talk to you about all this, I trust a Minuteman. But not on Nate's front step."

They all slowly moved further into the Neighborhood until they where in the roundabout, he knew nobody would be over here save Marcy in her claimed home but she would be long asleep.

"So whats there to talk about Benjamin." Sturges asked to get things going.

"Just call me Ben, and Nate's not doing to good." He said glancing about into the darkness, a habit Preston guessed he did when he was nervous. "You've only ever seen him like he is but I know him better, even you all have to admit he scares you."

Despite not wanting to admit it, he was right, and they all had to agree something was off with the man.

"He's been through more then you could even dream of, I shouldn't be the one telling you this but his wife was killed in the vault. For him only a few days ago."

Now that was something Preston knew could break a man.

"And now he's here... It was hard my first few weeks, just being dropped into this world you all inhabit normally and I didn't fight raiders or monsters on my first day either..." He confessed in genuine concern. "He's slipping, I can see it, I just hope he can pull out of it but all this killing is just not what he needs, the war was already hard enough on him, on all of us, he broke a woman's arm for waking him up just out of fear, Just don't- Let him adjust. Talking about it doesn't help that, I know he wanted to tell you but just don't drill him for now." The ghoul half pleaded.

It was a reasonable request, and he'd seen how hard it could be to loose a spouse not even adding the other half of his life, it was the lease he could do.

"We understand, and I'll help in any way I can." He responded getting a weary smile in return.

"Thank you, I think I can trust you all." He said with a smile almost halting on Reese. "Now I really need to sleep, its been a long day, have a good evening you three." He said starting his walk and adding before out of earshot. "I believe We will be leaving in a few days but I know we will help in any ways we can until then" He finished strolling towards the lit homes.

Now that he was gone, it was time for their conversation.

"Reese," He said turning to face the medic in anger. "What the hell was all that in the house, You can hate a man all you want but if you ever show it again I will personally throw your ass into that river, Do I Make My Self Clear?" To see a Minuteman acting like that made him sick, it was things like this that lead them to this point.

"Yes sir..."

"I need more than that Reese, Why did you do it." He demanded still.

"I don't hate him Preston, Its just- I left the Mojave to get away from the insanity, I've told you all this before." Preston raised an eyebrow, silently insisting that he give more information.

"All the Raiders and the insane robots and Romans and the Immortal rulers and the walking dead men and wars. I came here for peace Preston, I found could even handle the Synths, but time travelers now, I'm to old for this. I just wanted some peace and I... I just let it all pile on him."

"I know Reese, but it isn't his fault." He responded resting a hand on his old friends shoulder, he knew what it was like to want peace.

"Fuck I made an ass of myself didn't I?" They both nodded and he gave a weary smile at the antics. "I'll apologize tomorrow morning." The explanation put him at ease and he believed him when he said he would apologize, but before he walked back to the men's house he left one last thing. "I've seen this kind of man before though, He's not the exact same but close enough. And they bring trouble with them, The kind that start wars... And ends them"

"Damn." Sturges whispered reminded him he was even there.

"And you," Preston barked making the lanky mechanic jump, "Don't ever pick fights with Reese again, I'm done with it. One more time and I'll have to think of consequences and I really don't feel like dealing with insubordination right now. So think on what to do with this place and how to get water before tomorrow and go to sleep before anymore trouble finds us."

OoOoOoO

He walked down the street and pondered a rather simple question, where would he sleep? He could always go to Nate's, even after the war he was sure he would always be welcome in the Howard home, but the thoughts on his mind felt wrong to think under his friends roof.

He decided to prolong his walk to think about what he had seen of Nate so far; He was helping people like always, it was his thing even in Anchorage, help the Privet carry his footlocker, help Chase plan a campaign for a city, help a few survivors fight off a hoard of raiders... it was what Nate was good at, maybe not what he loved but he was simply drawn to it by nature.

But something was wrong with him, it didn't add up. He was as close to normal as he could be on a regular day not adding the apocalypses to his plate and still going strong. Sure he had cracked in in his home a little today but him simply being able to stand up strait perplexed him. He was pushing off all his feelings and ignoring the tragedy, willing himself to accept that everything would be fine so he could keep walking.

Nora had once called him a few months after they had retired and explained how he was; screaming in his sleep, spacing off, abnormally aggressive towards mild threats and the nightmares, those scarred her the worst... The war took its tole on him and it left its mark like it had on so many others, he knew his friend had it, it wasn't that rare but of all the people who could have avoided PTSD, Nate was not one of them.

More battle would put even greater strain on his mind, but he knew he would never stop and leave his son and Ben would never ask him too. But attacking people who woke him up, falling back to war time, and what ever he seemed to listen too, that invisible thing he would speak to when he felt nobody was watching yes he had noticed, how could he... How would Nate even survive this.

He decided to leave his thoughts once his legs lead him across the rickety bridge an to the edge of the wild darkness, not wanting to brave those darkened woods and paths at night he simply turned around deciding to sleep at the yellow house across the street from Nate's. They would leave for the city in a few days and find the detective, then things would really start.

Thoroughly exhausted he found a side of the room far enough away from the sleeping Lee and Reese, How long had he been pacing, contently backtracking in thought he wondered. But regardless of the ache in his bones from the consent movement he didn't take a roll to sleep on, they had brought them for themselves not him after all. He unstrapped the heavy combat armor and let it fall to the ground and huddled in his musty corner finally allowing sleep to take him.

OoOoOoO

"So Sturges you think of the water issue?" Preston asked the tired looking man, he had gone to sleep far later then everybody else and even still Sturges was awake at a table drawing plans never sleeping, dark circles hung under his eyes and a beard was growing between his Mutton Chops.

"Yeah boss... We- It's done, a water purifier for the river." Sturges replied handing him a large plan.

It looked a complicated build, all manner of pipes and acronyms but from what he could tell the water flowed through multiple grated pipes that faced up river and flowed into a sanitizer at water level then into a collection tank. It had some hard to come by parts and needed power but they would worry about that later, for now it was a job well done.

"Good work, you never cease to amaze me, now go get some sleep alright, I don't feel like catching you when you pass out"

He didn't argue, simply walking back towards the Yellow house they had started calling the men's bunk.

He walked though the area on a morning sweep, got some of the last food, Pickled Tatos in a jar for breakfast and checked in with all the groups. Once he had finished he walked back towards the bunk but was halted by the Robotic butler Codsworth.

 **"Mister Garvey!"** It called out.

"Yes?" He responded cautiously, robots where nice but something about them put him on edge.

 **"I have something for you, Mister Howard was up all night making making it, he seemed to believe exhaustion would be the only way he could sleep. He instructed me to give you it just before 'hitting the hay', As it where."** The robot said releasing a messy pile of papers to him and floating back to Nate's yard.

Preston wondered what on earth Nate would have stayed up all night making for him, but of all the things this was the best he could hope for. He wondered if this was the kind of ancient knowledge any soldier would have known but it was just what he needed, a map and blueprints of Sanctuary's too be defenses. Drafts for defense of the Area, A wall, battlements, even some traps they could make.

The wall would only cover the back half of Sanctuary as they had a smaller retaining wall along the front and a fairly fast river as well, they would haul cars and bus's from Concord up as its base then Codsworth would weld metal to fill the gaps. A trench to break up hoards and spikes to go along, barbed wire and lights, a few towers to watch from at choice locations only a native would have known, it would take a few months but it would make this place a fortress, safe.

He would have to thank Nate for this once he woke up, but at the moment he just went and dropped them off at a sleeping Sturges for review and moved on to check the next group of woman.

He marched his way around the settlement assessing it for use, planting grounds would go behind the men's bunk in the large open field, whether they would tear out the useless, alien, metal structures filling a portion of it he didn't know yet. He imagined Nate's wall around the area and worked with the image, water pipes from Sturges's purifier to the crop and even a few Brahman would fit in the area they would designate for agriculture.

Besides that he simply made endless rounds and examined the woods around the neighborhood, most people had almost forgotten that the Deathclaw that roamed the area but he would never feel safe until it was dead. He could almost feel it lurking in the wood as irrational as it sounded, one of the many things that kept him up at night

Over the next few days they all put in the work, they built a guard post at the bridge out of old wood and sheet metal from the collapsed houses, patched the hole ridden roofs and planted seeds for Tatos. The tough, starchy plants would survive with little care in the harsh sun bake soil until they had more water and fertilizer but it would do for now.

He also made note of what Nate did with his time, an effort to help Ben when needed as well as simply getting to know the man more. He helped where he could, simple jobs building his reputation with his new neighbors. He built a dog kennel in his yard for the puppies he had found, he explained that they where still too young to train but would be ready in a month or two. He asked people to help him with the care and training, all of which he was quite knowledgeable, the promise of guard dogs swaying most to help him feed, walk and care for the small creatures while he was gone.

Preston found a small spring in the hills which Nate confirmed was two centuries old and Sturges found to be radiation free solving the water issue for the time being leaving them to only boil it. Nate said he could have told them if they had asked about water, which they hadn't reminding Preston of how much of an untapped resource they where squandering. An issue he would fix once they where back and Nate had adjusted more.

All was going well and Nate and Ben said they where ready to leave for a while, Preston brought it up with Benjamin to find a caravan to come too Sanctuary, he was given the promise a Stockton caravan would be there in less than two weeks.

And finally after five days of fixing Sanctuary the two men walked across the bridge towards Diamond city for whatever reason they had, promising to send merchants and stray settlers they deemed safe back. Preston felt less safe without the two war machines with him but it was only a few days, he had held it down almost alone for two years, he knew they would all be fine.

OoOoOoO

They held a brisk pace the whole walk, a military pace. Three miles an hour never resting in the familiar march across the ruined world. They moved down the road from Nate's home to Concord, the town now silenced and simply a graveyard for the week old bodies of the raiders. The only noise being birds flapping from the rotting, blotted, fowl corpses, leaving their pickings to escape the perceived threat of the newcomers.

Nate never took his eyes off the tunnel the Deathclaw had torn forth from as they crept across streets, a deadly focus on the point of a story Ben was furious about.

From Concord they followed the Massachusetts-2 for a few hours, Nate silently beholding the atomic wasteland they now hiked through. Burned cars and bodies to fill, people fleeing the cities as it seemed. Telephone lines hanging like vines in the rusted jungle it seemed every road had become, the ancient cracked pavement springing forth a mess of burned lifeless looking roots that seemed to hold no life in the day.

But he still remembered his first walk in the dark woods the day he left the vault, the trees that held some life to them would light up at night with their newfound luminescence. Bringing a small amount of beauty into the world with a promise that not everything was broken... Simply, new.

A few hours passed and he could see Lexington, the supposed base of the raiders who besieged the Minutemen not six days earlier. He could see faint light and smoke from the stacks that jutted forth from the ruined car factory that had kept the town relevant and healthy before the war, but the fact it was still operational did not put him at ease. What they where making was now a point he would need to find out.

There they stopped for a modest lunch on the hood of a burnout in silence. Nate examining his feet for blisters and Ben checked his pistol. None were forming though, from what he had seen so far he wouldn't question the quality of Vault-Tec gear again, the Pip-boy, boots and even the discarded jumpsuit had impressed him. They ate what they brought, simple add water and extra to drink while they bathed in the tension of Benjamin's making.

He fiddled with his rifle, then the Pip-Boy as Benjamin wandered just out of sight to relieve himself, intent on learning more about his new tool. It worked simply, basic tabs, nothing like the 2000 his father had but that was never the point of the later models. It couldn't give him satellite positioning or topographical info like the 2000 but it was better at giving him physical reports and he doubted any where still in the sky for a 2000 either.

It had scroll and zoom dials for the screen as well as a touch screen, a Geiger counter, connection cord and port, a few unknown dials and a few tabs. _STAT, DATA, MAP, RADIO._

The stat showed his body, endless amounts of Info he only half understood, most where normal but it would tell him if that changed. The map was blank, the previous owner never downloaded any and it couldn't reach satellites to gain one, but once he did download a map of the area he would have endless amounts of pins and cartoonish icons to drop on it to remember everything. The notes allowed him to write lengthy messages, record vocally onto the hard drive or a Holotape, store photos, make folder of any of it and tie any info on the Pip-boy to any pin in the map tab. The final tab was the Radio, something he hadn't even thought of yet. To curious to think about if making noise was a bad idea he began to try and find a signal.

He turned up the volume and engaged the dial only to be met with static, the piercing noise filled the street and made Nate jump as he frantically turned it down to a reasonable volume. After a moment of rest to let his heart rate drop he began tuning for anything he could find, he started at the bottom areas of the bands and worked his way up.

He would pass a rough pour of noise from time to time, decayed signals from a hundred years ago most likely, a ranting man who spoke of his hunt for nails and teeth caused him great discomfort as well as leaving him more adverse to sleeping outside than before. He found one station that played classical music, symphonies and the like and he bookmarked it for later, a action he learned he could do just then, he even found one from DC.

 _"Hello East Coast, this is your host Three dog, the oldest, goldest, BOLDEST DJ and host on this Coast. Welcome back to Galaxy News Radio and, bigshocker, EVERYTHING'S STILL QUITE IN THE CAPITAL WASTELAND! NO RAIDER, NO SLAVERS, NOT EVEN AN ARSON."_ The elated personality jeered into the mic.

Nate was amazed he could even pickup a signal from DC, it was some four hundred miles away, whatever transmitter they where using it had to be strong, space age strong. He listened more and found himself liking this seasoned sounding man as he wove tales of hero's and his message of the good fight, something he aligned with strongly. A radio segment began to play of a man with his ghoul companion and their adventure reminding him deeply of the Silver Shroud.

 _"Alright kiddies, my time is almost up but I got one last story for you."_ He said changing tones to one more serious and wavering. _"It seems, our ever withering friendship with the Brotherhood has just been cut."_ He said somberly.

Nate knew the groups name from the Survival guide but he skimmed over it, he wished he had read about the faction now if only to know what was going on in the world.

 _"My sources have finally been denied access to the citadel and I didn't even get some flowers in the mail, damn shame. It seems our buddies have... moved on, from helping us since our beloved Sarah, god rest her soul, passed and John left them in search of whatever the hell he wants in life. Don't hate, he's earned it. ANYWAYS, before they got thrown out they caught a glimpse past that big, alien covering style tarp they through up in eighty one to see a massive metal city almost floating, it seems they are up to something back there after all. De-creased patrols, IN-creased Training, MORE_ _secrets AND FINALLY LEAVING OLD THREE DOG ALONE? Me thinks Maxon is gearing up for a campaign, against whom, well, I just can't say yet but I don't like it. That all folks THIS IS THREE DOG BOW WOW, your voice in, the grey."_

Butcher Pete filled the speakers and Nate bookmarked the signal and moved on wondering about what he had just heard but deciding he wouldn't ever go to the capital again, he would probably never meet them and it was hardly his business. He looked a little further but stopped at 102.7 once he saw Ben coming back, he would leave the last few channels for later.

How long had he been gone?, it was almost three at that moment, Nate never checked the start time.

"Wher've you been? its been... Fuck, a while." Nate half interrogated, his friends absence, while unmissed, was still strange.

"I scouted ahead, We're skipping Washington and saying with the M-2 until Boston... Pack of Ghouls along the other road." He explained packing his gear, Nate knew something was off but before he could ask they where on the way again in silence.

So that was the routine, He beheld the world with a shallow mortification and Benjamin watched his reaction. As rarely as he said anything on the walk it was only ever survival tips and random knowledge as if trying to prove to him he knew anything about the world, Something which Nate never doubted. So he just let him talk knowing it helped his friend release stress.

And of course he wondered how things had changed, how he would have to change, how the world would make him change, Morality was something that could never bend, The Nora would never allow it. But still he wondered what he would see of humanity, how he would feel about it, if he and his family would ever fit in with them.

Boston to sanctuary was a tough walk, more than most could ever hope to do in a day but he was a soldier, it was nothing new. They moved along and the stiff, precise leg moments came naturally with a sense of comfort in it, his mind going to rest in the routine, just like training, march until you got there, nothing was ever more simple. He could march endlessly even with the gear, he would watch every angle for attack and he would never rest for anything other than food, it was simple. Familiar.

The most shocking thing he found on the trek was how little actually was seen, Ben explained not many people ever moved outside their respective settlements anymore, traders being one of the rare exceptions. Most animals stayed in the vast, un-rediscovered reigns of the world making it deadly to venture into the woods but it wasn't rare to be attacked on the road by the common mutated beast either.

He told him he heard it was different a decade ago, the Minuteman kept the roads safe and held back raiders like the ones at Lexington, but ever since they fell apart it became to risky for the average man to just walk the roads. Soon they could see the skyline as the sun began to set, his heart dropped to see his city. One of the most advanced in the country, nothing more than a uneven wreck now.

The first thing he thought was some buildings where missing, then he realized they had crumbled a century ago. Some had fallen and now leaned against the less common one that still stood strong, just a waiting game against gravity of how long it could hold itself and its parasitic sibling. The southern side was the worst, the blast originated from that way so Brookline and Newton took the brunt of the force, the ever so scarce building still standing out that way where nothing but naked steel foundation, it looked like a boneyard.

All this simultaneously mixed with the massive systemic activity the world had endured, possibly from the atomic blasts, left the whole city unstable. Some sections where tilted on a new hill or raised higher than a part that had fallen below sea level and turned to a swamp creating a broken, uneven look of towers resting on a board of plateau, cliffs and gorges.

The suburbs and smaller surrounding towns where no better, worse even now that he looked harder. Some still stood in the husk of what looked like an ancient fire that consumed most of Somerville and Waltham leaving them concrete ruins that only stopped at the river, yet Cambridge seemed untouched as well.

Most of the freeways, overpasses and infrastructure the city had fallen like the sky and he was sure whole neighborhoods had been crushed in an instant under the enormous concrete blocks that where missing while some still stood. Nearly all the Bridges over the Charles river where also gone as far as he could see, the river seemed filthy and oozing even from that far away.

He imagined the atomic fire hitting the the city like a wave, destroying everything it touched before finally crashing against the skyscrapers like rocks on the shore, saving whatever was left.

Soon they reached the outskirts of the silent city and Ben explained moving through the city was never a good plan, collapsed roads and buildings making it a maze of vantage points and traps, assuming still you didn't run into any of the less friendly natives. So he lead him around the outskirts until they found the railway and with it a small railway bridge they used to cross the rancid river.

They then followed the river east, past Boston University along the docks, the further they got in the more life Nate saw. A boat filled with fishermen floated lazily along the river and they cautiously passed some intimidating arms dealers, moving off to the right and into a house to let them pass as Ben told him it was done.

Finally he knew they where close to Fenway Park and the next street would lead to it, less then a mile. He recalled long walks along these docks with his wife, How she would make him go out for a show and a meal in one of the beloved city restaurants in an effort to get to know their new home. It all felt hollow now, the only thing he felt in the ruins was the weight of he rings on his fingers.

"Eh... What that Noise?" Called an unfamiliar voice.

"STUPID HUMANS WANT TO FIGHT." Screamed a gravelly, enraged being down the street. "YOU DIE NOW!"

He scanned in a panic looking for the source of the voice, and there it was. On the other side of the street they now needed to go down, along the waterline as well where the larges, strongest, oddest looking humans he had ever seen. He could only guess they where mutants, something struck him about them though, he knew they didn't identify as human by their taunt, and there skin was... yellow.

He suddenly recalled the Pages from the Survival guide.

 _Supermutants... What can I say about the foul tempered, child minded, and heavily armed monsters that plague the Capital Wasteland..._

 _I myself have ended the pitiful life of hundreds of these monster who attack the average man simply for breathing, they seem to have a natural predisposition to hate and attempt to capture or kill any unmutated human they come across leaving you with only the to simplest options anything living can choose between, Kill or Run._

 _Being Yellow on the East coast and Green on the West they are mountains of grotesque muscle standing at roughly eight feet tall. While it is not known why, many of the remaining mutants on the west coast are reasonable to some extent and even intelligent like my dear friend Fawkes, a ineradicable, rare, intelligent, yellow skinned mutant. The odds of meeting one are beyond low here in the capital though, If yellow skinned draw you weapon. Do not worry yourself though, if it is intelligent it will let you know and maybe even forgive you, but the risk us to great to assume._

 _They are abnormally strong to a superhuman extent, a measurement I stumbled across put them on the Vault-Tec S.P.E.C.I.A.L scale at 18-26 for the average soldier making them more than twice as strong as the maximum human aptitude. And yet most of the Super Mutants on the east coast are mentally insane leaving them no smarter then a five year old on a tantrum, use this to your advantage._

 _Rarely_ _they also have the aptitude to mutate in the process of being created, a Super mutant can at some rare times become a Super Mutant_ _Behemoth growing to thirty feet tall and and unknown limit of strength. Avoid this nightmare at all costs_

 _If capture it would be best to simple kill yourself if no escape is possible, your fate will either be; being cooked alive for their ravenous hunger for any type of meat they come across, or, they will attempt to turn you into one of them, a fate worse then death. I can not elaborate on this processes as it has been made confidential by the Brotherhood, but they call them Frankenstein's for a reason._

 _Strengths_ _: (Strength)(Damage resistant and increased healing)(Radiation Immune)(Mutation Rampant)_

 _Weaknesses: (Slow)(Stupid)(Pack mentality with limited free thinking ability)_

 _-John Ronas_

"NATE FUCKING RUN FOR IT" Ben screamed grabbing him by the collar and rushing down the street towards towards the stadium.

His legs finally came back to life and his mind broke free of what he now only realized was shear terror as they barreled down the streets of Boston with the massive hoard on their tails. Bullets whipped passed as he toppled over a car and drew his rifle, he poked his head to a window and saw they where not stopping the charge. He fired and it hit one in the neck but to his terror and the mutants anger it hardly did anything being such a low caliber shot.

"NATE RUN DAMN YOU!" Ben screamed again pulling him from his cover and back to the run.

As they crossed another street, almost to the park, when he caught sight of another group of the monster and they too joined the chase, it seemed they had some of the hounds he had read about as well, they gave off a haunting howl and gave chase faster than their masters could keeping on their heels. Their screams and taunts where drowned out over the sound of gunfire as their blind retreat lead them past a Slocum Joe's, they where almost to the stadium.

"I SEE A GUARD POST NATE, WE'RE GONNA MAKE IT" Ben Cried, it almost sounded like he was exhilarated like he always was in a battle, it almost made him laugh. It felt good to feel the adrenaline again, the moral toil of battle and the delicate strings of ones life being tested yet again, he loved it.

* * *

 **I also worked with a mix of actual and in game Boston and had to add some of the other city surrounding besides just Cambridge.**


	8. Strangers in the Night

**I Do not own the baseball team mentioned bellow** **nor am I affiliated with them in any way... Please don't sue me Red Socks...**

* * *

 **Strangers in the** **Night**

She fell back into her chair with a revealed huff, running a twitching hand through her black hair she looked the article over one last time. She decided it was good enough for the time she had given it. It would at least make them enough money to make it to next week. And after the out roar that followed 'The Synthetic Truth', it was wise not to poke McDonough any more for a while.

Standing to go down the stairs she knocked the pile of Nuka bottles she had been drinking down, a clanking chorus followed as they tumbled down the steps and she silently cursed, not knowing if the noise would wake Nat.

Her sister had a long few days in the last week and would need the sleep for paper selling in a few hours. She only thought about the other person as she descended the stairs into the living room and was reminded by his hulking form on her couch.

The faint, green glow of his Pipboy gave enough light to walk by in the dark room and she wondered if one could even turn the screen off for sleeping, or sneaking. Too deep in thought for such a simple question she kicked a bottle again, but hardly thought Nate was in danger of waking up by the noise, what with him being deeply unconscious on her couch.

Creeping up to him she checked the time on his wrist, 4:36. She had been up for hours on end with all that happened the night before, it all seemed a foggy mess by now, though thinking back on it only stirred her ire once again. Nate, being the dumb bastard could have gotten her evicted and himself, but he didn't, and he was a odd mix of stupid and Charismatic leaving her no choice but to save him.

She went over to the Press and, looking the draft over once more, began silently weaving the story together with the hundreds of single letter stamps she had made. It was natural to her by now, so much so she even thought about other things while doing it, and this time her thoughts fell back to the night before, to the whole night before. She ran it over in her head a hundred times, analyzing anything she could remember about him, or his Ghoul friend, anything they had done, said, or shown.

Something about those two set off every alarm for people of importance she had, and she couldn't figure out why. They seemed simply stupid, foolhardy drifters who ran into town last night to the untrained eye but she knew better, they where hiding something, she just didn't know what. Nate was driven by something, For something more like, asking certain questions and looking for certain things like a dog on a hunt, and it wasn't just Nick. While the Ghoul, Benjamin, was loyal but besides that she didn't know much about him.

Starting to set up the next page she read it through, it contained no conspiracy theories or hunches she had about the two, No larger truth of the city or wastes that would challenge the reader to expand. No, she left it simple, a cash grab, a story about Diamond city security last night to put people at ease. And they would love it.

Back at stamp placing she ran the night over once again to find points of interest, nothing she had seen Really should have interested her as much as it did, but her gut told her to keep looking, and it would help her unravel it to make a list.

OoOoOoO

"Danny For the Last Fucking Time Let Me In!" Piper raged at the young guard, this would be the last time she let that Feral for brains McDonough get her outside the wall like this.

It had been a trap to begin with, she knew before she ever left the gate, but she just assumed it would be another 'Threat' from the mayors ass like the last fifty, a few of the more scummy guards would walk out and threaten to destroy her press if she didn't stop printing against the mayor. They couldn't just kill her, if she just went missing then people might start to wonder if she was right.

So the best they could do was lock her out like an angry wife would her drunken husband, and now she was here.

Still she fought though, if only to talk with someone. "Don't pull that 'Miss Piper' shit with me Danny Sullivan I knew you before you could grow a beard,"

He gave a long breath at the scolding and she knew he couldn't budge but she kept at it, she was desperate now. " Danny I have a sister and a life in there, what are you going to keep the gates shut forever just to keep me out?"

 _"I know it's stupid but its what the may_ _or ordered so I have to keep them shut, you really pissed him off this time."_ He explained sympathetically, she could hardly blame him, while she was almost immune to Mcdonough the guard wasn't and Danny could be fired, and he needed the job. _or ordered so I have to keep them shut, you really pissed him off this time."_

"I know..." She finally admitted.

Why did he have to go around being right all the time? It was insulting to say the least. "What did you think of it though? The paper I mean."

 _"...You made some good points; don't quote me on that."_

"A quote from the guard, not in my wildest dreams Sullivan." She quipped. "Okay, I wont bore you anymore"

 _"Look I'll take care of Nat for now, just until this rolls over"_ He offered, he was a good guy... Just had a damn foul boss.

"... Thanks Danny, you're a good guy." She said sliding down the wall by the microphone until she was in a ball.

Maybe she had, gone too far in the last issue. She broke a few salty tears in the dark night for her own stupidity. Why did she keep doing this to herself? No she new why, but it still hurt that Mcdonough had brought her to tears.

The commonwealth got cold at night, fifty to forty and what was left of winter was coming to drop that even further. She needed to be smarter about this, for Nat and herself, but she knew that fat bitch of a mayor was a synth, she knew he had plans and she had to warn people.

She tried to sleep for maybe an hour before she gave it up and just looked around into the dark court of the ancient Baseball stadium. She even mulled over asking the guards to let her stay by one of the barrel fires with them, maybe trade a few stories.

 _"Piper you still there?"_

"Where else would I be?" She mumbled.

 _"I have to ask, you make an alright living off the paper... more than most. Why do you risk it all every week taking shots a Mcdonough when you could just... I dunno, play it safe."_

Questioned the guard she knew most people wondered the same thing, they would never understand what drove the reporter to this level of danger just for a story. But the truth was so rare in the Commonwealth it was worth more then anything, and she believed that the truth was a inalienable right.

"Danny people buy the paper because its risky, because I tell the truth as much as I can no matter what danger it puts me in. If they wanted more of Mcdonough's horseshit they would just walk to that damn stage." She explained.

 _"Your brave Piper, I want you to know that. I'm almost off shift bu-"_

"Quiet." She hissed standing up as fast as she could. Danny went silent as ordered and Piper listened into the night for the noise to strike again. And there it was again, gun shots, More and more of them and getting closer. "Danny somethings wrong."

 _"Piper, whats up?"_

She could hear the shouting and gunfire from the guards joining the battle, it was just down the street past the post.

"Danny... Open the Gate."

 _"Piper whats wrong, whats happening?"_

"DANNY OPEN THE GATE!" She pushed again. The guards on the north barricade screamed and waved their friends through before abandoning their post as well to join the retreat.

The night guard was thirty men strong, every night the gate shut and they took watch to keep keep peace and protect the late night arrival until morning. Too see twenty seven of them fleeing into the court yard towards the gate... She didn't like what it implied.

One man pushed the scared reporter aside and addressed the microphone. It was the Captain, Carter Reynolds, leader of Diamond City security.

He was a good man if not a hard ass at times, gray beard and bald with tired wrinkles to his face, and he was one of the main people to stand up to Mcdonough for Pipers safety, he liked her for some reason.

"SULLIVAN THIS IS CAPTAIN REYNOLDS OPEN THE GATE A QUARTER THEN BEGIN SHUTTING IT IMMEDIATELY THAT'S AN ORDER!" He shouted, a waver of fear crept into his voice by the end and that was the thing that scared Piper the most. Reynolds didn't get scared.

The massive steel gate let out a groan as it strained to open and all the guardsmen flowed under like a river seeping through the cracks. Lucky for her the Captain made a point of grabbing the young reporter, who's eyes where locked on the corner waiting to see whatever came through, and pulling her under just as movement was visible in the darkness.

Once under she looked back to see a man come sprinting around the bend and into the open space in a blind flee. Slightly behind another came trough the barricaded but seemed far less intelligent, deciding to stop and fire at the unknown, he quickly found this to be ineffective and ran towards the city as Danny began to shutting sequence.

Just as the gate began to lower, like bats out of hell, Super Mutants and hounds flooded after the duo.

She stared in awe, stunned by how fast the monsters could move if they wanted something bad enough, which it seemed they did. The slower man fired over his head at the wave of muscle and it slowed him down enough that he was only half the way there as his friend slid under the now closing gate and into safety.

"ITS TO SLOW DANNY WE NEED TO CUT IT!" Cried one of the guards in fear.

"NO LET IT CLOSE WE HAVE TO HOLD THEM!" Commanded the Captain. "ONCE THAT MAN IS THROUGH WE FIRE, HOLD. THEM. BACK. WE CAN NOT AFFORD TO DROP THE GATE!" He ordered readying his rifle, every guard followed suit including the stranger, a ghoul as it where, and drew their guns.

The line of men at the gate began cheering for the man still running over their terror oddly enough, and he was making a good go of it, but the hounds where catching up. With how close they where to him it didn't seem likely he would survive; Diamond City loved an underdog though and compared to the Mutants on his heels he was just that.

In a last ditch effort he did a slid towards the gate but fell a few inch's short, with no time to recover or crawl away it seemed like the end for the poor fool but a guard and his companion lunged out to grabbed his boots and pulled him away from a hounds closing jaws.

With the idiot safe those who where armed opened fire as the Mutants threw themselves at the gate in force, the hounds forced there heads into the two foot space left attempting to tear at them, all the meat was jamming the gate.

Soon nobody could get a clear shot past the bodies and things got tense. Then the Super Mutants began trying to lift the gate away in an attempt to get inside and tense went to panic.

She stooped by the newcomer and tried to give him a hand up. "Jesus Christ, I was rooting for you." She joked but he just laid there still stunned to be alive, a wild smile adorning his scruffy face.

"SIR THE GATE'S STUCK" Danny yelled from the booth alerting her to the change in tides. She only occurred to her she may have been standing to close to the gate when a bone crushing grip clamped her leg.

Her feet where pulled out from under her in a second, frantically she searched for anything to hold onto as the Green monster pulled her under and into the hoard. But as her head was almost gone from sight somebody grabbed her arms, she looked up to see both the ghoul attempting to save her.

"SULLIVAN HOLD THE DROP!" Shouted one of the guards as he too rushed to her aid.

Soon a half dozen guards had a grip on anywhere they could get one in the battle for her, Armpits, under her chin and on her clothes all in a desperate attempt to foil the beast that was pulling her under. She kicked and screamed as the tug of war grew deathly painful and her limbs felt ready to pop out of the joints.

Right as the pain hit its climax her left hand was deserted by the fleshy grip that had kept her anchored.

"BEN!" Cried another as her right hand was abandoned as well. She started slipping back under without the help of the strangers but within a moment the guards tumbled over onto each other as she was pulled back through, the grip on her leg vanishing.

She only then realized why some of them let go, and she prayed it didn't cost them their lives.

"DROP IT!"

"SIR FIVE MEN JUST RAN UNDER, WE CAN'T LEAVE THEM!"

"FUCK, ON FIVE SULLIVAN."

"FIVE"

Nothing

"FOUR"

Nothing

"THREE"

Two men crawled under, not enough though.

"TWO"

Nothing

"ONE"

In a wild crawl the two strange men scrambled under just as the gate was cut loose like rats fleeing a fire with a massive arm swiping at them. The dead weight of the massive steel door proved to much even for the Super Mutants holding. All the bodied and the reaching arm where crushed to jelly.

The Mutants pounded furiously on the gate as everybody glanced around at each other still amazed by what had just happened. Then Piper found herself laughing. It was uneasy but became infectious as the whole chamber was filled with thunderous jeers and laughter as all present thanked god and each other; All to be ruined by Mcdonough.

"What in the blazes is going on down here?" The fat, suit wearing man roared.

His eyes where filled with what should have been an inseparable anger, and they lit even brighter when he saw her.

"Piper who let you back in!" Demanded the mayor in a newfound rage. All the guards stood and cleared away from intrepid reporter leaving her to stand alone; it seemed they would fight mutants for her but the mayor? Not a chance. "Sullivan I told you to keep that gate shut!"

Reynolds walked forward with a determined look and cut the Mayor off before he avoided the issue any further. "Sir, The Mutants are still covering the door and we had to drop it, Orders?" Insisted the Captain, Mcdonough stepped back and glanced at the gate only just now seeing the mess, he gagged and pulled out a handkerchief covering his nose with it.

"Good god..." He stammered. She knew he didn't have any balls.

After a few moments of the men marveling at how much of a spineless child their leader was, he regained his composure.

"Well that is unfortunate; how many did we loose Captain?" Questioned the mayor finally putting on that brave face her paper had called, 'The unwavering falsehood'.

"Three. We caught them just in time and yet they had to run back out to save a civilian whom you decided to lock outside for a few nights." Retorted Reynolds venomously. Mcdonough sneered a retort.

"You best remember your place captain, and as for you, you Devious rabble rousing slanderer!" He insulted turning back on Piper herself. He stood over the woman who had taken to lying against a beam to rest her torn muscles. "To think we lost Three good men for you, I'd trade you AND your sister for just HALF of ONE of those men back." She spaced out after that, it wasn't until somebody else spoke that she perked pack up.

"-And The Level of dishonesty in that paper of your, I'll have it scrapped for parts by the morning and you thrown back ou-"

"Excuse me but what the HELL?" Demanded the Ghoul standing against the plump tyrant, tall and proud. But she knew it was utterly useless "A mayor tearing down the press and treating a woman like this... In front of the whole guard, What the Hell kinda city is this?" He raged gesturing to all the onlookers who tried to ignore it, the Mayor in turn scowled at the Irradiated Human like he just asked him for change.

"You have no place here freak... Silence yourself or I'll have the guards throw you over the wall."

"It just want to talk.. buddy" He growled back.

"Well I'll just speak first then. Your a monster not unlike those pounding on my gate, an insult to the term human and I wont stand the sight, or smell, of you in my city. So, you will stay in a dark corner until that gate is open again or I will shoot you myself, is that clear?"

Feeling it was finished Mcdonough turned back to her and the captain, never even bothering to hear the reply. But a moment later he felt a grip on his shoulder and violently turned to smack the Ghoul away, only to find he had hit the Ghouls companion right on the cheek.

She had never see the Mayor go pale before, but she decided that night she liked it.

He was human by all standards, bigger than the mayor by half a foot with Black hair and a short, scruffy beard. Green eyes, a scar on his cheek and lip, a slightly crooked nose he didn't seem to have enjoyed the mayors slap. His build was very muscular and his eyes poured anger.

He glared down at the plump raciest with a fire, it seemed to Piper he was in no mood to deal with any bullshit after the harrowing experience. "After all that's happened, I would expect better treatment from a mayor, especially after our greeting at the Gate!" He all but demanded.

She wondered how this would play out, how Mcdonough would react to being pushed by somebody that wasn't her.

"Alright step off the Mayor," Said one of the guards butting him in the chest with the stock of his rifle. The man only moved back willingly, like neither hits had ever happened.

"Oh I didn't mean to bring You into this Good Sir," Mcdonough said brushing himself off and standing strait, though not as tall as he did with her. "No No you look like Diamond city material." He blew out. It always astounded her how two faced he could be.

"Well you brought me into it when you Insulted my friend and this Nice young lady, and what gave away my worthiness? The blood soaked cloths or the smell of dead monster, or is your slap the token of good faith around here?"

"Nate calm down." Mumbled the ghoul pulling him back.

"Listen to your 'friend' sir,"

The dark haired man glanced around at the readied guards and turned the leaf, "Alright then, I wouldn't want any trouble with the mayor."

Kissing ass, not a bad plan.

"Glad to see we sorted that out, welcome to the great green jewel of the Commonwealth. Safe and happy, a fine place to come, spend your money, settle down. My name is Mayor Mcdonough, and you are?" He extended his hand.

"Nate Howard and this is Benjamin Montgomery." He explained never accepting the shake, she had decided by now she liked the scary looking man.

"Welcome to Diamond city Mr. Howard, a word of advice though, don't let that rabble rousing woman mix you up," He said brushing off his coat yet again, an angry tick she had seen before. "Oh and you're... Friend is it?.. He'll have to stay here until the Mutants have been dealt with, city rules you understand right? I'll be keeping a close eye on you Miss Wright, and you too Howard." He said walking off and giving one last sneer to the Ghoul.

"Oh Sir." The man, Nate, call out. Mcdonough turned back midway down the tunnel to the city. "Talk to my Friend's like that one more time and I'll break your Fucking Femurs and not all the guards in the world could stop me." He said in an eerily pleasant tone and smiling out of the slapped cheek. Everybody's mouths to drop in silence. "Have a nice night." He finished.

"And speak to me like that again and I'll have you hung in the center of town like a Christmas ornament with the rest of the trash."

"Jesus... Alright-Alright you heard him," Reynolds mumbled. "Men get to the top of the stands and clear the freaks away from the Gate, Sullivan find Abbot and get the gate fixed before tomorrow, Piper... your lucky he forgot about you this time, play it safe for now?" He half begged. The old Captain cared about her and Natalie like his own daughters.

Reynolds then turned toward the strange Duo. "You sir, you have every right to speak freely in Diamond city but touch or threaten the mayor again and you'll get thrown in the cell." Then man took it well enough and gave a nod. He seemed to understand that it was just his job and didn't put it against him.

"And you, Ghoul. I would like to take this moment to say, not all the guards agree with how we treat your kind. You still have to stay outside the city once the gate is fixed, but for now come to the booth and have a meal on us as a thank you for saving Piper." He said with a smile.

He really was a great man. And he was right, she needed to just lay low for a few weeks and let Mcdonough calm before he really did make good on his threats, she needed a story to let him feel he won for a while even if it sacrificed the truth.

"Thank you Sir. If I may ask though, is Danny on shift?" Asked the Ghoul. Sullivan shuffled through the guards and Greeted him warmly, Danny's greeting being of course a big smile and a warm hug, a stark contrast to the harshness a ghoul was put through most days.

"Benjamin, god it makes me glad to see you made it out there." He said still smiling and looking him over. "This gear is amazing, combat Plate where the hell did yo-" He stopped as his eyes fell on the dark haired man. "He's actually out? I almost didn't think he was real." He said astonished.

"You know him too Danny?" She asked.

"Uhh Oh... No I don't, yet, right. Its nice to meet you Nate... er If I can call you that?" He bumbled out, it seemed he didn't really know how to act around this man, how he knew the ghoul was also a mystery to Piper but she was sure she would find out. But for now... She wanted to know more about these two for herself.

"Yes. I don't think I can really thank you enough for what you did for Ben, if you ever need anything-" He returned just as warmly, it seemed he wasn't cruel and cold at all times, only with Mcdonough. And that was another thing about them she could get behind.

"Alright Nate, we came here for a reason." Announced the ghoul. "I can't go in so your on your own for now, go find him and learn what you can. If you need help ask a man named Solomon, he's a friend, Just... don't buy anything." He joked.

More mysteries. Who where they looking for and how did a ghoul know the local chem cooker in a city he could never enter? These two just kept getting more interesting, she thought.

It almost seemed like they forgot about her when one made sure the guards where gone before whispering to the other " _Okay Ben, stay safe out here. Also, it wouldn't hurt to help fix the gate in anyway you can, we did kinda lead them here_." He instructed in a hush tone, it seemed they caused all this, His friend moved away but Nate pulled him back again. _"And you told Danny about me, us?"_ He nodded back confused. _"Don't tell people anything, not anymore, I don't want people knowing about me, got it_."

If only they knew how good she was at eavesdropping, they would have walked further. What where they hiding.

The ghoul marched off and left him standing there, neither knowing just how interested she was in them. "I can help you, if that would be alright?" She offered, it was a good start to learning something.

He froze realizing she was still there and looked her over automatically, his eyes scanning every inch of her like he did it with everybody.

It would have been rude, uncomfortable, or even perverted, but he didn't seem like the normal man and didn't act like it either. His eyes didn't hover on her breasts or thighs like most would have, rather her boots, arms, hat and eyes; looking for tells.

Then he stared off to his right at a void space, thinking maybe but it was almost too alert. But he finished and addressed her like it didn't happen. "I would be glad to have the company Miss..?" He smiled gesturing for her to introduce herself.

"Piper Wright."

"Pleasure to meet you Miss Wright, Nate Howard." He said with a smile, she almost found him charming. "Benjamin" He addressed his companion. "I'm going into the town with Miss Wright here, did Preston want use to do anything while we where her?"

"Yeah he did actually, we need to get a industrial..." He glanced down at his hand, evidently having written it down there. "Reverse, Osmosis purifier? I don't think you'll find one here though, or have enough money to buy it even if you did but at lease ask around?"

"Yeah, alight." He replied moving back to his friend, it seemed he forgot a hug, cute. "This places laws are fucking ridiculous Ben. But don't worry I'll look after myself and you do the same, sorry about this." He said in a arm gripped embrace. It occurred to her, the ghoul had been the one to charge first for her.

"Before we go, I think I need to thank you," She interrupted awkwardly as they both turned to her, she could feel a blush coming.

"Oh. No need, I was just doing... er. Helping." He joked running a wrinkly burned hand over his Nape in embarrassment. His nervousness we nice.

"Well anyhow you saved my life, thank you Benjamin." She insisted, he gave a rough breath and nodded with a smile.

"Alright, should we go." Nate asked and she came back. She nodded and they moved towards the city, leaving the ghoul alone in the dark chamber.

Sometimes it was amazing that they could all forget how prejudice they where, but everybody turned a blind eye to segregation including her with only brief reminders that ghouls even existed, such as those two and the now rare Herbert Dashwood radio drama from DC.

"So, what'er you looking for in 'The Great Green Jewel'?" She mocked highlighting with her hands and drawing out the first word, she found it paid to simply ask sometimes.

"A detective here in the city, I heard he's good and God knows I could use his help." He replied as they moved down the tunnel. So he wanted to know about Nick, not too strange but she herself hadn't heard from the synth in a few days. It hardly mattered though, the agency wasn't open at this time of night anyways, though she wasn't even sure Nick slept, now she wanted to ask Ellie about that.

"Valentine huh, well your going to have to wait, its the middle of the night in case you haven't noticed." She teased, he shot a mild glare her way.

"Damn it, fine." He said, Irritation slipping into his voice. "What can I guy like me do in this place this late if the Detective isn't open yet?"

He was driven to find Nick, he lost somebody, that was for sure.

"So it's your first time in the city then?" She asked, it wasn't every day someone new came through, almost though.

"I guess you could say that." He replied gazing out into the stands as though seemed wrong to him. He was scary, handsome, charming, strange, intriguing, and brave all at once.

"Well, how about a tour?"

"That would be great Miss Wright."

"Piper," She corrected, Miss Wright was what McDonough called her. "And follow me."

OoOoOoO

He followed the young woman down a tunnel and onto the field. Gone was the green grass and white chalk lines of Americas pass time, instead metal and stone homes and shacks filled the vast expanse of the stadium. He passed her home, "Publick Occurrences" which was a well made stone building near the door, a good location. And a church, it warmed his heart to see people still believed in something besides money or booze, and an "All Faiths" church was the closest thing to simple coexistence he had ever seen in the religious world.

From there she lead him to, from what he could tell by the decrepit bases still lying there, was home to first. She showed him a meat cart that didn't seem up to HHS standard; and the local bar, The Dugout in they called it. It must have been what was left of the dugout of his long forgotten team, The Red Socks. How strange it felt to get this close, to walk on the field like he always wanted too, only a double dozen decades to late.

He looked into the dark stands, the ghost of Boston's adoring fans screams of amazement echoing in his mind like at strong wind, the only place they still existed. He remembered coming the first time to this field with his father, cruel man that he had been they still had some good times.

But now it was something different, a fortress, and he needed to get used to that fact that nothing was remembered, nothing was sacred. Everything was used as something new now and it was only useful if it furthered the effort to survive.

They wandered through the alleyways created by homes ranging from solid stone to loose sheet metal with light and sound pouring out into the night air. At times three or four would be stacked in a dangerous game of Jenga to accommodate the ever growing settlement that had long outgrown the field, now pouring onto the stands and into the sky.

Nora walked beside him as they moved around to see a lab of some sorts and the local radio station, It seemed he had missed the cities radio station in his search, he would bookmark it later. They then walked down a alleyway filled with squatters and druggies of all types, it seemed the apocalypse solved as many domestic problems as it did political. The only light to walk by was dull pink and cast by a neon sign.

"Valentine Detective Agency" He mumbled.

"Do you think it could be Nicks?" Nora asked glancing about the dark walk with sadness.

The thought crossed his mind but unless he was a ghoul the chances where zero, and what where the odds of that? "No, Nick would have died two centuries ago, maybe his family line though? Or just somebody found a ancient yellowed paper and decided a detectives name should be Valentine."

"Hey Nate?" Piper said interrupting his solo conversation and standing closer than he remembered. "What are you doing. Unless your talking with one of these people your talking to yourself and that's...- Its kinda weird." She said with a worried smile, he would need to be more careful when entertaining his hallucinations.

"I talk to myself sometimes, it helps me think." He explained pretending to be embarrassed.

"I suppose we all do it at times... What where you thinking about, how you lead the Mutants to our door perhaps?" She jabbed with a sly grin.

He laughed a little, it wasn't a threat, yet. "No I just knew a man Named Valentine once." He said gazing at the flickering sign.

"A man huh, Probably not him then. Lets get back to the Dugout, I need a drink after all that." She groaned streching her probobly exhasted muscles, the mutants probably weren't as gentle as a chiropractor.

"I like this girl, shes smart AND charming." Nora exclaimed almost making him jump at the reappearance.

His wife gave a sharp smile, off balance and crooked. She only used it when she was jealous of something. Normally he would try to reassure her, but this was his own mind, he didn't have to bother. And he wasn't interested in this woman either, he was married to one girl, and he would get her back.

"So.. I could use a drink too" He said as as they exited the alley, remembering the stakes of his wife made him really need a drink.

Still though he looked around and spotted a school, it was nice to see they still had something resembling average life. But Something in the corner of his eye bugged him, it was a silhouette but it was all too high.

He got back to following Piper as she began talking about something he wasn't listening too, he was to focused by the disturbed feeling his peripheral vision was giving him. They walked into the market and finally he focused on the dark form, and in the shadowy light of the neon signs and power lines he found why it had caught his attention.

"Nate... My god." Nora whimpered beside him in her fright.

Looming above like angles where the condemned, the nooses almost not viable in the night, The men where fresh and clothed, hung for all to see every day in the market like a butchers fresh cuts.

"I guess now I know what the mayor meant about Christmas ornaments." He mumbled.

"Why. Nate how are you not Mad? Not SCARED, EVEN SAD" Nora cried in distress.

Nate put his arm around his crying wife's ghost passing it off as simply leaning against the wall as he glared up at the dead, it didn't upset him though, he had seen it to many times to even frown.

"Anchorage had worse Nora... Men hanging their neighbors on the chance they sympathized with the Reds when they where drunk ten years ago. Food riots in the cities turned to witch hunts that we got too only just to late to stop, but soon enough to see the frozen bodies decorating the empty streets." He would never tell his wife these thing, but this wasn't his wife it was his own mind and to that he could never lie.

"Nate how is this different?" She demanded leaving his arm, facing in from the front, and crossing her arms in disgust.

"Look Nora, they left the sentence too, they're not monsters." He said pointing to the closest body, on it was a paper on the chest, the crime written and signed by three people. "Rapist, Child Molester... Murderer Nora, they don't deserve my pity, they where monsters and they serve as a warning to others liek them."

But she didn't buy it and was gone yet again leaving him in the gallows. "Fine."

He caught up with Piper again and looked at the shops around the marketer trying to take his mind of the bodies over head. Guns, drugs, garbage, Swatters?He supposed they had all the essentials covered.

A barber, he needed a hair cut, he would get it done tomorrow. But the doctor caught his eye, "Mega Surgery Center." He mumbled, a real doctor, well verse in surgery? He needed to see this person.

"Yeah, that's doc Sun and Crocker's place, why? Get hurt in the scuffle?" She asked slightly worried.

Glancing at his Pipboy because of the reminder he found he was fine, luckily. "No I have a... My friend might need some help soon."

"Ben?"

"No, no just someone up north."

They walked into the Dugout and a wave of nausea poured over him, the smell of liquor and two hundred year old sweaty socks mixing in a bad way.

Never the less he followed the unfazed woman down the tunnel that let out to a large room. All the stalls, lockers and showers had been torn down, though the ever odd drain dotted the floor, making a large open space filled with all manner of tables and benches, couches and lamps.

Pictures, paintings and mounted heads of creatures he had never seen adorned every wall along with street signs and baseball memorabilia. Christmas lights hung from the roof lighting most of the area strafing off the darkness and making it feel...cozy.

"Ah, Piper my dear!" Shouted a man in a thick Slavic accent, how a isolated culture remained intact for a few hundred years amazed him but if anybody could do it, a Russian could. "Welcome back, I see you made it past that fool at the gate eh, You come right to the Bar, that's my kind of woman! My offer still stands though?"

"It's still a no Vadim but thank you." She said chuckling and approaching the counter. "That strong shine though, that's why I'm here."

"Ah, you need my brew? Yes and you bring a friend, he looks strong." Said the man turning to Him. "You look like you can handle a fight, looking for work?"

"Not at the moment, thank you though, and I'll have what she's having." He respectfully said, the man was upset but accepted the refusal with grace.

"Ah well, here you are. Enjoy on the house, First time to hook you." He said with a robust laugh and moved down the bar to see to other patrons.

They found a table by the door and he admired the bar, it felt almost pre-war to him, but any bar could look like it was straight from the apocalypses.

The other patrons looks nice enough, a few guards, armed men and woman of the worlds, trades and thugs all mixed in a brown baggy by booze. He liked that the bar was still full even this late.

"I'll pay for rounds but you have to do something for me in return," Nate glanced at her in a way she didn't like and knew she had to clarify. "I'm a reporter and I need someone to help me with story ideas. Nothing bad just and interview, is that okay Mister Jumpy?" she quipped.

"I don't think your readers would be very interested in what I have to say but sure."

"I'll be the judge of that, now... Where where you born?" Inquired the young woman.

He wouldn't tell some random reporter his life story, but he could humor her with a few questions and maybe get some info out of it too.

"West of here."

"Oh, all I know about the west is what everybody does. I know one city, you ever been to New Vegas?" He hadn't been aware Vegas had been re-done.

"No.?"

"Then where are you from?"

"...Los Angeles."

"I can't say I've ever heard of it. Well then tell me about the west, not many people survive the travel across the world."

He had walked into the wrong waters, he had no idea what the west was like now, he didn't have any idea what Here was like now. So he changed the direction of the conversation like he was flipping a car.

"So tell me about Doctor... Sun? What does he do."

"Oh, well. That was abrupt. He's a good doctor, does just about everything from physicals to full blown amputations. Crocker's the one who handles making it look pretty, cosmetic and shit like that." She explained sipping her drink. "Really gotta look for a doctor for that 'Friend of yours' huh."

"Yes, I do."

"Ok then, Well I know you're from the west, what did you do out there, whats your career?"

He despised get to know you games like this, but he would just stick with Benjamin's story, it seemed to work for him.

"Gun for hire."

"Oh... wow, sorry you just didn't seem the type. That is to say it seemed too obvious for me to believe that's all there was too it." She chuckled taking a large swig of her drink yet again.

He must have been stiff and impersonable for her to tick on her booze like that like that. But he was still amazed such a dainty looking woman could drink this stuff, it tasted like gasoline and went down about as easily.

"Yeah, you grow into your roll I guess. What the hell-" He trailed off once he saw the leather jackets.

A few men strolled in in black leather jackets and slicked hair, something out of an old movie, and started in on a skinny man in a Red team Letterman Jacket, unshaven and tired looking he just ignored them.

"Oh jeeze, they're picking on Travis..." Piper mumbled keeping her head down.

"Why?" He asked as he watched the man squirm.

"Because they're dicks and He's easy. He's a timid guy but he could fight back if he wanted, though he'll get his ass kicked."

He was going to sit it out but he spotted Nora walking towards him and knew it would be a fight

"Help the kid out Nate, he could use it." He tried to ignore her but she pushed again.

"Nate! You wouldn't let this stand any other day of the week, you can't just let all the things you stand for go just to save me. DON''T IGNORE ME!" But he did, he didn't want to be controlled by this, his own madness.

In the end though, his conscious would always get the better of him. She spoke to him again, but in his own voice.

"If you come back to her a different man, a worse man, she will never love you again. Now go help him." It demanded.

And he obeyed.

OoOoOoO

Piper looked up after Nate said something she didn't hear. He swallowed the whole of his fowl brew in a chug, stood up, his chair making an awful screeching, and marched to confront the playtime gang.

"Hey, lay off the kid." He said it as a threat.

Gouger turned to look at him as if to confirm that someone really said something, and once he caught sight of Nate he smile. She was was worried for him after seeing that smile, she wouldn't lie to herself. Gouger was a head taller than Nate and bigger too, he was going to get fucked up.

"I'm sorry, I think your lost." He said putting a hand on Nate's head, turning him away then pushing him off like a child.

Nate only walked back though. "Fuck off the kid Or I'll put your head through this table." Nate growled back, evidently being made more angry by being pushed.

"What?" Gouger shot back.

"You heard me."

"I think this guy wants to fight Gouger." Joked Bull with a cocky smile, announcing it to the whole bar.

"Well then," Gouger said turning to address the bar, his arms wide in a boast. All eyes where now on the arguing men and Piper thought about getting the guards, but that would put her dangerously close to Bull who was by the door.

"LET'S FIGHT!" He shouted whipping around to swing at Nate who took the full hit to the jaw.

It all happened faster than she could really processes.

Nate threw up his guards and took a wall, Bull fell into place at Gouger's side along with one of the two gangsters who accompanied him while Travis got to Nate. Vadim got out his shotgun and rested it on the counter, Yefim ran in and started shouting, all the Bar patrons formed a circle around them and somehow Piper found herself in the front of the circle with a prime view.

The gangster who didn't go to Gouger charged Nate who didn't let him get far, delivering a blow to the face, jumped around his back to kick his kidneys and effectively disabling him in four seconds.

Once he was on his knees Nate gave him a fast blow to the temple and he was out on the floor. Bull slipped around the edge of the ring and engaged Travis who held his guards whilst the final two descended on Nate.

A few hits where blocked and the ones that hit Nate didn't seem to faze him, Gouger absorbed Nates like nothing.

Nate got surrounded and restrained by the second man who he lost track of and She thought it was over for him as Gouger laid into his abdomen. Yet Nate didn't tire, instead his jumped up bending his holder back and kicking Gouger in the chest sending the man holding him into a wall and breaking free.

Meanwhile Travis had taken a bad hit to the eye sending him into a rage, he charged past Bulls defense and laid into his gut while staying so close Bull could only swing over Travis's shoulders to his his back while swearing like a dog.

Nate Kicked the thugs arm in as his tried to rise breaking it at the joint, he let out a scream as he fell on top of it, he was out of the fight. The crowd roared at the evening move.

Bull was tiring and Nate was pounding Gouger harder than was safe with blows to the stomach, head, and balls. The massive man's tireless endurance was starting to waver just as Bull fell to Travis's onslaught, but beaten and bloody all of them, Gouger followed his men to his knee's.

"Okay! Okay..." He pleaded raising his hands to surrender. "You win, I'll never come back again."

Nate looked bad. Flat lip and a fucked up eye being the most prominent; not adding his abdomen, topped with bleeding from a now broken nose and peppered with bruises, but he didn't seem to mind.

"I accept, But I told you, Fuck with him one more time and your head goes through that table." He said pointing to the place Travis had been sitting.

He grabbed the near dead fish of a man by the neck and held him in his pit, dragging him towards the table as the crowd screamed in pleasure. Gouger tried to fight it but he lost. Nate then grabbed him by the back of the head and hoisted him up, then shot his face into the table breaking it easily and slamming him into the concrete floor.

"ALRIGHT NO MORE FIGHTING!" Vadim Yelled from the bar finally ending it. "TABLES ARE HARD TO FIND, THE BAR IS NOW CLOSED, GET OUT EVERYBODY, COME BACK TOMORROW WITH LESS DAMAGES TO MY PROPERTY."

Piper watched Nate examine the damage he cause a heat building in her chest, he didn't look happy though. Travis walked up to him, thanked him for the help and congratulated him on the victory. But Nate insisted it was a team effort, and Travis eventually agreed.

It she was happy to see him take the victory, fighting Bull was enough to make anybody scared but he still won alone and she could see Scarlett standing Tato red with her eyes locked on the Radio host, and Piper might have been in the same boat.

She couldn't even fathom how well Nate fought, three large men at once, it was enough to make any woman weak. Anyone really, not just woman.

As everyone flooded out for the night Nate got a few slaps on the back and thanks for taking care of the trash. Vadim even paid him for his help, never elaborating past "That was the job I wanted you to do anyways." Two hundred caps was enough for a fight like that she surmized.

Once they where out in the cool night air again Nate let out a heavy breath and she had to say something. "That was amazing."

She said feeling like a dumb little girl fiddling with her hair, a small, juvenile habit she still held onto. He grunted and flexed his jaw. "Whats wrong? You won right? Worried about Gouger coming back?"

"No no, It just reminds me of the war..."

"You where in a war?!" She burst out, her mind ran at a thousand miles an hour intently forgetting her crush in favor of questions. "What war, where?"

She only remembered how inappropriate it was to ask when he grimaced like he had just been stabbed, he must not have intended to say anything about it. "Oh... Oh my god I am so sorr-"

"Its fine... It just brings me back." He said as they wandered the surprisingly empty streets back to the market. Still she felt bad at having mentioned "All the fighting though I almost felt like I was back there, Hell the only thing missing is the Red-"

 ** _"Nah-ni Shimasho-Ka"_**

He was cut off by the Robotic server of Power Noodles, the familiar robot must have sensed them walking past and activated. It was all fine until she caught Nate's immediate motions out of the corner of her eye, too see a grown man who had just seemed so strong jump so high in terror of the robot... It was wrong.

But a real issue arouse when he, mid flight, drew his Pistol out of its holster and fired at the steel server, striking it several times and damaging it badly.

But as if that wasn't enough the jump sent him sprawling to the floor of the stand. Shock filled her as the sound of gun fire echoed through the empty streets and lights started flicking on around the streets while the guard yell in the distance.

All she really knew at that moment was she couldn't be there when the guards got there.

Turning to Nate to demand an explanation and flee the scene she found him unconscious on the ground in a loose ball. It seemed he had slammed his head against a pole knocking himself out, ironic considering the fight a few moments before hand.

But now she had to get him out of there, yes she knew she wasn't thinking clearly but the only thing understood was she had an intense desire to keep this psychopath safe.

She could hear the guards tough cleated Boots pounding towards them as she dragged the muscular man down the steps of Fallon's basement. She dropped him at the bottom and drew out her lock picking rake and wrench from their pockets on her forearm quickly going to work, the sound of guards yelling and searching above. Her shaky hands slowed the process but she got the basic lock open and practically flew inside dragging Nate behind her.

And so she waited in the dark store silently with Nate in her lap, praying to whatever god Pastor Clements believed in that they wouldn't find her. What the hell had Nate been thinking? Shooting a beloved city Icon would get him hung and McDonough already didn't like him. He would get murdered and her? What would they even do with her?

She sat there in the dark for what felt like hours with a few icy tears of terror, hating Nate for what ever the hell that was. It was there, in that basement she was trespassing in, she decided after the endless kaleidoscope of conflicting emotions she had felt for him that night, that she wouldn't do that too herself. She would keep Nate Howard an acquaintance at most.

She would keep him safe, then she would get home, then she would need to work on her bad taste in men. That was the plan once she had a chance to move.

After an eternity it finally went quiet, they must have known they wouldn't find the culprit and moved on. So she braved a look outside, and it was clear, and she got even braver and peaked over the concrete retaining wall into the market, and it was clear, so she started on her way home... With Nate.

OoOoOoO

"So What Is wrong with the Gate, can't you just raise it?" Ben wondered aloud.

Security had been beyond friendly to him since Nate left, feeding him and letting him stay in a bed even sharing stories to pass time, but as he watched the repairman Abbot shout at a guard for the last few minutes he wondered what kind of damage they had actually caused.

"Well we had to drop it to keep the Muties out," Explained Reynolds sipping on a Nuka-Cola. "It weighs about Eighty thousand pound of scavenged steel," Ben's eyes almost popped out of his head. "Yep... twenty five feet wide, twelve feet high and one foot solid."

"So you're the one who they Fucked my Gate for." The repair man yelled, power walking towards them. Ben sensed a scolding coming but Reynolds stood to his defense.

"Abbot calm down, he saved Piper." He said extending his arms to keep him at bay.

"Should have known... Shes such a nice girl but the amount of damage she can cause is mind boggling." He mumbled shaking his head. "I heard you asking about the gate," He extending calming down as fast as he had gotten angry. "Still want to know about the cities history? I've time while Sullivan is talking to Myrna for her Handy's help so I've got time."

"I would love to."

"Alright no ass kissing, but it is nice to see somebody's interested in more than how long it take for me to fix it." The older man said with a smile, he glance at Reynolds who caught his eyes mid cola sip. "Well don't just stand there grab me one I'm telling a story!" The captain ran towards the fridge and Abbot started. It seemed even the old guard was scared of the resident handyman.

"My Grandfather helped build Diamond City as you see it, all the power lines and water filtration, he was the man who drew the plans for the gate and my father built it in twenty one eighty two after the first major mutant attack with the help of the Minutemen who, at the time, where still in their infant stages." Ben nodded along, he remembered hearing about the first siege of Diamond city from Baybush.

Abbot continued "It all works off Hydraulics but each side is held by a massive steel pin that we can remove in case it needs to be close instantly for I dunno, Super Mutants? Well it goes slow because it all weighs a shit ton and it needs torque to lift it and slowly lower it so it wont damage itself or the foundations, understand?"

"As much as I can... so how did the mutants lift it?" Ben asked still not clear.

"God damn- Weren't you listening? We can't just drop it down dead weight style. It lowers slowly not all the weight is on it, only equates to about thirty thousand according to my father. All the Green things had to fight was the belts and gears, not gravity." He said tapping his head.

"They can really lift thirty thousand pounds." Ben asked astonished, he knew the monsters where strong but that was unprecedented.

"Well I've seen a single one almost lift a Brahman, two can hurdle it at you so say... Whilet," The captain called another man in the room "How many would you say where outside today?" Reynolds asked handing Abbot a Cherry flavor cola.

"A cherry huh, is this a 'Please don't kick my ass gift?" Abbot mocked popping the cap off with his bear finger.

"No its a 'Please shut the hell up old man' Gift. Anyways Whilet how many Muties where out there would you say."

"About Twenty eight sir."

"How much could Twenty Eight lift I wonder? If they had one of those big ones I'd say we would be fucked." The Captain responded shaking his head and laughing at fate.

"Jesus..."

"Yep just a day in the life buddy, those bastards got it in for the city though. Nobody alive can remember the last time they attacked this much. But I say they're testing us, seeing how strong we are so they can wipe us out for good." The captain said looking off and speaking grimly. "So what brought you to the city anyhow? Any particular reason?" He questioned.

"Looking to set up a caravan route, got a settlement up north." Ben replied, He received a eye roll for his effort.

"Stockton runs out of Bunker hill and you know that, try again."

The captain was smart, smarter than he though and he could smell the lie faster than he could blink. And he was kind enough not to be offended by the lie so Ben just came clean.

"Fuck, your good... We need to see the detective alrig-"

"Stop. That's all we need to know, Just tell the truth next time, its not like we're evil." Reynolds joked going back to his cola.

"Yeah, Yeah... So how long will it take to get the gate back up?" Ben inquired after a long silence, staying with the guards was great until the mayor made good on his threats. And weather or not they wanted too, they would listen to him, money had a way of breaking friendships.

"Should be up by this evening," Abbot said taking another long sip.

Another guard ran in, probably just got off his rounds, the captain sat up at the urgency. "How was it, anything I should know about?"

"SOME FUCKER JUST SHOT UP TAKAHASHI!."

"sOMEONE FUCKING WHAT."Screamed the captain. Ben got a sinking feeling in his guy... Nate.

"Who the hell would do that, that robots beloved." Demanded the Captain.

"Don't know sir, but the only people on the street where the ones leaving the Dugout."

The captain was tense now, pacing and stroking his beard in anger. Ben couldn't believe how much they care for a robot. "The Dugout, we'll need to talk to Vadim tomorrow, get a list going, I want this fucker." The Captain mumbled, How the hell did Nate cause this much trouble everywhere?

OoOoOoO

"Piper Who the Hell Is That?" She yelled at her sister. First she got herself locked out leaving her to eat dinner and fall asleep alone, and now she was dragging huge men inside the house.

"He's a friend Nat, go back to sleep." Piper explained red and shaky, trying to shoo her away.

"An incapacitated Friend huh, with a little flow of blood to brighten the room." She jabbed pointing the the drips of crimson now staining the floor, how her sister attracted shit like this kept her up most nights with worry.

"Shut it Nat and grab his legs."

She did as she was told and helped her sister heft the large man onto the couch, He fell onto it like the wet towel Piper ran to get. Within a few moments She was cleaning the wound, having tossed her hat and coat aside she rested his head in her lap slowly wiping the blood out of the hair, it almost seemed romantic to her.

"Aw You finally found a man, and he's only half dead." She joked. It would have been nice to see her sister finally get a man or even a boyfriend, but that just wasn't a possibility for her.

Pipers head whipped her detection in annoyance. "Don't start those fu- don't even joke Nat."

"Aw whats the matter Pipe? Some guy rolls into town with a few guns, some scars and a bleeding head wound and a battered face and your not opening your legs to him in the first few minutes saying 'Just take me already'" She joked swooning back and forth, it was always so fun to make her sister mad.

Piper turned scarlet red, standing straight up and sending the dead guy off her lap and onto the floor. "NAT YOU MAKE ME SOUND LIKE A WHORE YOU KNOW I DON'T DO THAT." She screamed.

"I know I know, your actually the most uptight person in the fucking world." She mumbled knowing she was grounded.

"Where did you learn words like that?" She demanded.

"Work..."

She and some of her other classmates worked at the dugout, cleaning rooms and tables for the Bobrov brothers, and she knew Piper was against it. But it was a good after hours for when papers weren't selling and safer then most she could get at this age.

The shifts where lucrative and shockingly, Vadim was actually a good boss. He paid well and would beat the hell out of any weirdos who tried to make moves on the kids, which happened more than it should have.

"Vadim?"

"Only when somebody is rude to us Piper don't get mad at him." She pleaded.

"Alright then, but your grounded from playing for a week, don't make jokes that I'm some kind of Whore... Half the city would believe it and half the men would try to rent me." She said sadly. It was times like this Nat remembered how hard her sister worked for her. So she gave her a quick hug which Piper returned and together they got the weird man back onto the couch.

"Alright so who is he and why is he in our house at Two AM?" She questioned, He looked scary... Bruised on the face and bleeding, but kinda... cute.

"To be honest, The dumbest person I know. I think I can get a story out of him though."

"About what, killing people for a living or growing amazing beards?" She asked evenly.

Piper laughed at the joke and they both stared down at him, questions buzzed through her mind but at the front she wondered if Piper was thinking the same thing as her.

"I wonder what he has on him?" She wondered aloud, Piper shot her a concerned glance.

"Nat... You know that's wrong we don't do that anymore not since we came here."

"I know it was only a survival thing but, we could learn more about him and we'll put it all back, he'll never know Piper it'll be fun come on." She pleaded.

Piper cracked a smile and together they began digging through his pockets in a fury, recalling hustling idiots while they where homeless after there dad died.

After a moment passed she had a nice little collection of trinkets from the sleeping mans possession. "A lighter, cigs and a... compass with a really good photo of a brunette. What did you find?" Piper asked after searching the pockets, Nat took the outside, anything strapped to him.

"Shotgun and a few shells, a ten mil with two magazines, one hell of a knife, a Stim, a Pristine Pipboy and a bag with the caps he got from Vadim." She listed in a mellow tone. "Also he's bleeding on you."

Piper Glanced down only just noticing the blood staining her shirt and pants and slid out from under him Putting the towel under his head to save the couch. "Help me get his shirt off before it stains the couch." Nat felt a blush and tried to not let her sisters notice, she did..

"Does somebody have a crush on my bleeding man?" Piper mocked, it was her turn to go a little red.

"He's kinda Hot Piper you know it." She shot back.

"Nat your a little girl and he's like thirty, it will never work." Her sister joked again.

"What ever I know you think so too" She said turning away now fully red, the last thing she needed was Piper teasing her about this.

"Yeah, I do. But he's crazy and I'm not stupid."She said pulling the bloody shirt over his head exposing his torso "God Above..."

"Piper wait this was a bad-" She blurted as her sister stumbled back, only then exposing his chest to her view.

He was strong, stronger than anybody Nat had ever seen, but the scars... She felt the pain of them roll over her as they gazed at his stained torso, it felt like they where invading his privacy just by looking.

Cuts peppered him ranging from paper to jagged lacerations, two leaser burns embellished his peck and kidney leaving deep red scars of tainted flesh that still seemed to be still glow in the faint light of the office. The ever so scarce bullets hole all seemed to all dodge major organs by millimeters and like a crown above them all a vicious tear ran across his abdomen.

It caved to the discolored flesh and was surrounded by a horrid burn that seemed to wrap it like a rot. All caked and mixed with deep purple bruises from what looked to be a recent fight.

Her sister face contorted with pain as she covered her mouth, Her other hand hovered, it couldn't decide if she should cover him. She went to say something, anything really to just relieve the painful silence, but found nothing came out.

After an eternity of avoiding looking at anything but the floor Piper sat up and threw a blanket over the man, finally putting the matter to rest. "You should get some sleep Natalie, we've got to sell papers tomorrow." She breathed clearly tense.

"I can help," She said all too fast, desperate to change the mental subject. Piper just glanced at her with a thankful look.

"No you need to be up for sales tomorrow, We need the caps and I'll be up all night writing this. You still have school too, remember?"

"Alright, don't know how well I'm going to sleep after seeing that," She grumbled standing to go to her bed beneath the stairs and tossing a finger back at the dead man. "And all these damn mystery and questions and strange, bleeding, tormented men you drag home aren't going to help that."

Piper just laughed behind her as she climbed into the rough bed. Little did her sister know she had a peep hole in the sheet wall that separated her room. Nothing interesting happened though, Piper just sat on the table across the room and stared at him. With the way her eyelid hung she was thinking, pondering something, but as she thought about what it could be, she fell asleep, never putting her finger on it.

OoOoOoO

She finished Binding the last Paper, a fine stack sat before her for Natalie to sell. The night was crazy at best but what had she really accumulated on Nate?

He was looking for Nick, probably lost somebody. He was friends with a Ghoul and they lead mutants to the city. He was a war vet. He was from the west? Or had that been a lie? he had refused to elaborate on it, maybe he was a criminal? He had a 'Friend' who lived up north and needed medical help. He could fight. He didn't like bullies? In the end she believed he was a good man.

She could always tell when somebody was lying, but nothing from Nate had been full lies, half truthes at best leaving the waters murky. She didn't know if that was better or worse.

He almost seemed Peaceful when asleep, a stark contrast to the calculated predator he, probably subconsciously, emulated while awake. Slow steady breaths that rolled off his chest and flowed easily replaced the regular deep, edged ones he held at uniform when awake.

Even his body as a whole seemed less intimidating, his muscles where loose and flaccid making him seem much smaller in general, but she knew once he was awake he would unfold himself back to the man he tried so desperately to be.

The papers where done, it was time for her to go to sleep, she had promised to help him. So, slowly climbing the stairs to her room, she gave one last glance at the stranger on her couch.

"Night Nate."

* * *

 **Its me your hero, the best keeper of time and fighter of procrastination this side of the country, WhiskyRose, here and back at it with another chapter including every bodies Fallout fantastic crush, Piper Wright.**

 **I don't know what to say save I'm sorry. I really don't have a good excuse except that I am working on fixing the previous chapters, it seems I loose a massive amount of readers on the first three or so.**

 **So here is the eighth chapter and every bodies favorite Reporter, hope you liked it.**

 **I tweaked history a little and explained Diamond city a lot because, well i wanted to i guess. Next few chapters should be around Boston and the ruins but it might take a while while I keep working of the first seven. You can re read those if you want, or don't, I wont change anything really except for the flow work.**

 **Love you and I hope life is working out on your end.**

 **-WhiskyRose**


	9. The detective is out

**It's a labor of love, a fanfic. No pay or repayment for anything here. So sorry if I move slow, I have bills to pay and this doesn't help that.**

 **Oooh this one is one of my favorites I've written, hope you enjoy.**

 ** _The Detective is_** ** _out._**

* * *

Piper sat up from her half asleep daze suddenly. A pounding on the door had stirred her sleep deprived, unwilling mind awake.

She stood to march for the door, only half awake, and beyond angry at being awoken.

Traversing the room with a learned grace, silently as to not wake anybody. It was still early in the morning, seven or so. She hardly got any sleep at all with the tall order of papers that had been printed, but she got them all done and the longer her sister got to rest the better.

The ferocious knock continued steadily as her ire grew exponentially, threatening to boil over onto the assailant of her door. Undoing the three locks that where all but necessary to live in the city, she flung it open.

The he now cool November air rush her along with the identity of the early morning visitors. Captain Reynolds, two guards in tow, stood on her dirt porch. A grim, but not outwardly suspicious look adorned his face.

"Morning Piper," He said, a mix of courtesy and intent carrying on his voice. "I got bad news, there was an... Incident. Takahashi got shot up last night."

The memory of Nate's involvement with the beloved mascots assault was once again fresh in her mind. She threw out her best surprised look but knew with how tired she was it didn't look great.

"Now I've been casing the area to get the facts. Did you see any suspicious characters last night, hear or see anything that could help?" The captain continued, withdrawing a pen and paper.

"Umm, no I don't-"

"We where at the Dug Out bar last night," Came another voice from behind.

Piper turned to see Nate, now fully conscious, walking to join her at the door. Relief washed over her at knowing he was not too damaged to wake up again. And she was more than happy to have the backup of somebody who had slept last night. "Why, whats happened officer?"

Reynolds wasn't one to pry and moved past the shirtless mans sudden apprentice as if it was nothing, but she knew she would hear about it later. "A beloved town icon was destroyed last night around one in the morning." He explained.

"You say you where at the Dug Out, I'm sure Vadim can verify that." Continued another guard from under his retrofitted catchers helmet. "Speaking of which, we got reports of a particularly violent bar fight around the same time, and judging by your face and belly I'd wager you where the guy who beat Gouger to a pulp. Right?" He inquired, referring to Nate's painfully bruised torso and black eyes.

Nate's impressively smooth flow was ruined. "Uh, wel- Yeah, that was me. But that Bastard started it so I -." He stated to explain looking guilty and concerned. The guards stepped him though.

"Don't worry about it bud, no laws I can think of say you can't pummel a Beantown thug for picking on Travis, and Vadim says they wont press charges." Reynolds reassured trying to get back to the task at hand. "Now do you know anything about the Power Noodles indecent?"

"I don't think we do, Nate was pretty messed up from the fight so we came straight here and I let him crash my couch." Piper explained.

"I see, we didn't think you where involved, just need to check every angle. And can I just say nice work on Gouger, we saw him leaving last night and it looked like that was a good fight.." Complemented the last guard to have spoken.

"With skills like that you could go fight in the Combat Zone, I'd bet on you." Added the second.

With that they turned to leave giving Piper some relief.

"Officers, before you go." Nate called after them. They turned and Reynolds walked back, talking across the street being rude. "Is the gate fixed, because I wouldn't want Ben to overstay the Mayors welcome..."

Piper had almost forgotten, the clock was ticking on the mayors threat.

Glancing around, the Captain came even closer as to whisper to him. What he said she couldn't hear, but she guessed by the emphasizing look that he told Nate they wouldn't do anything to the Ghoul, regardless of the Mayor.

Put to rest Nate returned inside, thankfully, she could only imagine what her neighbors though of the shirtless man leaving her house. Should she offer him Breakfast?

"Um..." She chimed, voice cracking a little. "You want anything, Mutfruit orrr-" Nate cut her off.

"Where's my shirt?" He was glancing around the room. It seemed the fact that he couldn't find it bothered him.

"Oh... Its," She actually didn't remember where she put the bloody cloths. "It got really stained after your fight, so I took it off, not in a weird way but I didn't want to stain the couch and a bloody guy is a weird thing to surprise my little sister with so I think I told her to take it-" She rambled, How the Hell did she loose his shirt.

"Well if it ruined." He shrugged off, she was glad he didn't care because she wouldn't find it for a few weeks at least. He continued "Do you have any in my size? Old boyfriends or a dads that I can use for now?"

She cringed a little, he hit two major sore spots at once.

"Um, No. Nobody's ever really been here who could leave a shirt you would fit in." She half laughed now looking over Natalie, never really trying to hid the pain that crept into her voice.

He must have noticed the nerve he hit an apologized quickly. "Hey I'm sorry if I offended you or anything, look I would never presume anything I just-" She chuckled a little at how nervous the ramblings where. "I mean I don't know how people treat you gals these days but I, I got no prejudice towards... Its all your preference and I support that."

Realization hit her as to why he was so embarrassed. "Wait, do you think I'm Lesbian?" She laughed aloud at how much redder he turned.

"..."

"Oh My God!" She wheezed. "The scary gun for Hire can take on Gouger without flinching but he thought he assumed something and he turns to a frightened kid." Still chuckling she tried to put him at ease. "No, no, I'm straight... for now. It just," She grew sad thinking about how to phrase it. "My dad didn't get the chance to leave shirts in Diamond City."

"I'm sorry Piper. I didn't know" He empathized.

She almost teared up, but pushed it back down quickly. "It okay Nate. Now what are we doing today again?" She changed the subject quickly, deciding against bringing up last night for now.

OoOoOoO

"Where did he keep it!" She raged. She needed his damned backup, he needed help she knew it.

But was it already too late?..

No it was Nick, the bastard was stupidly brave, but he always survived.

But what if he didn't?

What if one bullet hit the wrong spot and he couldn't haul himself home this time? What if he was just another pile of metal wreckage in an old subway?

Then she would fix Him! She resolved.

She would find a way, sh- she would take him to somebody, the Railroad they would help Nick, or or, she would get the institute to help him. They made him they could fix him, she would turn him over... he could get away again right? She reasoned.

She drowning in desperation.

No no they threw him away the last time they had him, if she could even find another synth they would just snatch her to be replaced like all the others. She would figure it all out later, she decided on.

So it was still up to get him back, and for that she needed a gun.

"DAMN IT NICK!" It echoed in the empty metal office. "DAMN IT, Where did you put that fucking spare." She was pleading, but nothing answered.

All she found was one of his discarded ties.

It was too small of a thing to even matter, but it sent her to tears. What would she do without Nick? He was her only lifeline.

She couldn't go back to Goodneighbor with her debts. And Nick was still throwing all his caps on those for her.

Even after 5 years the debt kept building, Marowski was ruthless.

She started she panic, to shake, what would Marowski make her do to pay it off without Nick.

She couldn't save Nick and Nick was the only thing that had saved her. Another Fiend with a Jet habit that he pulled from the Rexford. God she didn't know how to fire a gun! How the hell could she save Nick?

She couldn't take on Malone, and those gangsters wouldn't just kill her if they caught her... And if the payments weren't made this month she'd be dragged back to Goodneighbor by her hair.

From that desperate spot, on the ground, in a fetal position, she spotted his spare. Ducktaped under Nicks chair.

She grabbed it, heavier than she expected, it scared her.

She threw it to the floor in front of her.

It was all she had.

He was dead, she knew it. Skinny wouldn't let him live after all the things he fucked up for him.

She had nothing of value to sell, no money, no skills, and Debts to her nose. What where her options?

Maybe bar tending for Vadim, and if that didn't work prostitution...

No... Marowski would sell her before she made her first cap. Send some goons to haul her back and put her to auction, to be some raiders plaything for a week, or to a whore house with bomb collars to work a wall for the rest of her life before being beheaded for some fucking freak to enjoy one last time.

She had one gun.

OoOoOoO

They where now back in the filthy ally from the night Prior, of which he still couldn't place the ending of.

He was devoid of a shirt still, Piper insisted he could just borrow one from nick rather than buying a new one. She seemed resistant to going to the clothing store they had passed, in fact, they hadn't stopped anywhere, leaving most of this foreign city unknown to him.

The ally itself was emptied out of the homeless that had used it as refuge the night prior. The only thing remotely similar in the daylight was the pink neon sign, " _Valentines Detective Agency_ ". A cute arrow through a heart logo casting the area in a warming pink light.

He was about to go in, he didn't have time to adventure the city further this time he decided. But Piper stopped him.

"What happened last night, Nate?" She demanded.

"What?" He asked more defensively than was necessary, because he couldn't fully answer.

"You know what I'm talking about. Why Takahashi? Why the one gig Robot?"

He was rather dumbstruck. "You saying I did that?" Why the hell would he shoot a random robot in the middle of the night? How the hell would he not remember it?

"Look I wanna help you, you and your friend helped me, But I'm not gonna keep going until I get some answers!"

"Answers to what?" He returned.

He was preparing to listen to her rant, but something in the background had caught his ear; it was important but he didn't know why or what it was. Only that it was drawing half his mind to it leaving it hard to focus on Pipers words.

"I could tell when you where lying Nate! All last night it was half truths and dancing around real questions. And you need to answer them truthfully or I'm not going to help you anymore." She said standing straight and putting her foot down for emphasis.

He needed her help, and he found he even liked her.

He decided he would trust Piper Wright. "Alright Shoot, no lies."

"Wait its that easy?" She faltered.

"Yes, ask away. Why?"

She almost stuttered. "Wow... Normally its not that easy to get people to talk to a reporter."

"Well it is with me. I need your help and if this is all it takes the least I can be is honest. I'm going to trust you. But for now you can only ask three things to keep this quick." God he hoped she wasted them, He didn't have time to explain it all, and not in an allyway.

"Alright then." She huffed, almost flattered it seemed. "Well, Last night you said you where from Los Angeles, and why did you leave and where is that?"

Fuck.

He would try to keep it generic. "It's a large city in California. Its a septic shit hole last I saw. I left for the war effort." He closed sternly. Another noise bothered his subconscious, his hairs where standing at the disturbance.

"Nate." Nora Whispered. It floated past like a breeze, he didn't look to her. Piper had asked something while he was in his thoughts.

"I'm sorry Piper. What was that?"

"I asked why you need a Doctor so bad. You mentioned it multiple times last night."

Christ, she had a good memory and feel for impotence.

"My wife needs help." He replied, deciding that would be all he would say.

Another Noise assaulted him; Brass hitting steal.

"Did you hear that." He interrupted urgently. He couldn't get his mind off it, it came from the Detective office.

"What, no. I was just saying I was sorry."

"Nate!" Nora yelled louder this time, she didn't like being ignored.

"What war where you in?"

"Sino-American, Alaskan front." He replied absentmindedly. Nothing felt right, it dawned on him that this feeling was panic.

"NATE!" The ghost boomed behind him, like thunder rolling through his mind. She was tired of this, and demanded he pay attention to that back part of his mind.

Finally his head whipped around, he had to know what his subconscious was registering that he couldn't, what was making her so mad. But he found nothing. It seemed he wasn't supposed to be looking, rather another sense. Only one sense, and it was currently being processed.

Sound.

A hammer being cocked.

He was through the door, over a desk, and restraining a frantic woman before his mind could catch up, let alone Piper.

"NO GOD PLEASE!" She shrieked and scratched, desperate to get to the gun he had knocked away.

He didn't know her but held just as tightly as he would had he. She wriggled and wormed, frantically clawing at him, any vain hope at getting loose.

Just as he got a better hold on her she clawed at his neck, he could feel the blood, he almost slipped, but buckled down and restrained her arms as well in a bear hug.

"Calm down, don't do this!" He insisted barley holding the wild woman back.

"I'LL PAY I SWEAR I'LL PAY JUST PLEASE LET ME GO!" She bawled in tears, she knew she couldn't fight him.

It seemed she was in a full fledged Panic Attack. He had never tried to comfort somebody through one of these before, what was he supposed to do? Just as he figured he had her tight enough to think, she bit into his forearm, but he held it together.

"ELLIE," Piper yelled from the other side of the desk. "NATE WHAT THE HELL?" She demanded, reaching for her pistol.

Only now did he realized how tightly he had started squeezing her through the pain. He loosed it just enough before engaging her.

"SHE WAS TRYING TO KILL HERSELF PIPER! GRAB THE DAMN GUN." He instructed gesturing towards the fire arm while holding the squirming woman against him.

Piper quickly holstered hers before kicking the other across the room. Joining Nate on the floor she began to aid him in trying to sooth the secretary, who's screams had just turned to whelps and blubbering by now.

Eventually, after many cooed words and lots of hair stroking she settled enough that he could safely let her go into Pipers arms. It would would do her far more good if she wasn't restrained by and unfamiliar man, piper had explained.

Thirty minutes of trying to calm her enough to talk brought Nate back to trauma wards, inside of which he never helped besides visiting. God... so many broken soldiers who couldn't understand they where safe, that is was over. How had he avoided such a fate?

"Ellie?" Piper prodded.

She nodded in acknowledgement.

"Where's Nick, Ellie?"

"He... Well he went after Skinny last Thursday, Pipes."

"Fuck," Piper snapped, scaring the younger woman in to trembling again. Piper seemed to realize and vowed to remain calm for the rest of the talk.

It seemed to Nate that Piper had an excitement issue, nothing to bad but she just jumped when something she was interested in or scared of was reveled.

But they got back on track. "Why Ell?"

He was confused, but sure that Piper would explain later.

Ellie simply pointed to the lone file on the table. It was almost Cliche, a case file on the detectives desk. But then again, Nate wondered how this man named Valentine had even learned to be a detective. The police academy didn't seem likely, so maybe he was just copying the Silver Shroud comics or an old TV show and grew into the role.

What ever it had been it seemed this man had a good track record. Maybe the source of his skill didn't matter to anybody anymore; just that he got it done.

Piper silently urged him to pass the file, making quick work of it, and relaying the situation to him.

"Some brat Malone kidnapped a month back. Regular story. But Nick took it, he thinks he's worth the whole Minutemen. Charged the whole station alone." She explained all but morose.

"He's been gone a week?" Nate inquired. It might have been the first real words he had said to this girl.

"Yep."

"Ok... Okay we'll handle Nick later." Piper explained, she almost seemed panicked herself. He almost got mad, what could be more important than the whole reason they were there?

"Have they come for the payment yet Ell?" Piper whispered, glancing at the door.

She nodded 'No'.

"Three days late..." She explained. She starting to shake again, her complexion dropping to that of snow.

Nate decided that, whatever was going on, a visitor was expected. He also understood that, based on Pipers reaction, it would be best that they weren't snuck up on. Quickly he stood and locked the door, deciding to keep a hand pistol ready.

The detective could wait, this woman needed help at the moment.

"Okay, oh god ok." Piper started again.

But once again she pushed it off and locked eyes on Ellie. "Don't worry Ell, I'll pay this one. And Nate over there will make sure they take it."

He didn't like watching himself get drawn into whatever had these two so scared. But looking at this poor girl, he couldn't, wouldn't, say no.

"Yeah, I will." He reassured.

"Okay Ell, we're gonna walk to my place for now, and Nate's gonna keep us safe, ok?" Piper Babied, it was the only thing that seemed to be working on the terrified woman.

"ok.."

"Okay," She confirmed helping Ellie to her feet. "Nate, I'll explain this all later but right now lead up back to my place."

Nate already knew that this was a picking of sides that would leave an effect. He just hoped, as they walked to Pipers, that it was the right choice.

OoOoOoO

"What the hell are we in?" He demanded.

She really didn't know what to tell him. But they were safe to talk with Ellie in the other room being distracted by Nat and the guards now being noticed about the situation.

"Look Nate, a Boss Named Skinny Malone has Nick. If you need him this bad you're gonna have to get him." She explained dryly.

She wish it had gone better than this. Why where things only going wrong with him here? Correlation not causation she decided.

"Hold it." He burst. "You want me, a single man, to take out a gang of, how big is it? For somebody I've never met? What if he's already dead?" He was clearly dumbfounded by the request. And thinking about it herself it seemed ridiculous to even ask.

"You said you need him Nate, we'll you gotta go get him. The guard wont risk it these days and nobody else knows. Hell I don't even know if anybody else would even if they did!" She raged. Even after all Nick had done she really couldn't think of anybody who would go. "God now I'm mad!" She hissed. It enraged her.

Everybody in the world had their palm open for help. But when it came time to pay it back, to help somebody else you where always alone.

"And Malone wont kill Nick," She continued still steaming. "He's too fucking nostalgic. He enjoys feeling like he's in an old comic. Nick's fine, I'm more worried about Ellie. Rexford has a tab on her." She grimaced, preparing to tell him the next part. "And while I'm explaining I'm going to have to ask a favor."

He face was dull, like he expected this a while ago. "I'm going to have to scare somebody off, right?"

"Well, more like the entire drug mob of Goodneighbor." She choked out. "But for now just one guy, yeah." She breathed uneasily.

If she could picture the textbook face for 'You have got to be fucking kidding me.' it still wouldn't have measured up to how he was looking at her.

"What does Rexford mean, and why do you care for this girl if she did this to herself in a drug ring?"

It almost felt like he didn't care.

Almost.

"Okay, well Ellie's from Goodneighbor and was a party girl all her teenage years." She began. It wasn't her place to tell this story, she thought. But she couldn't handle this without him.

"Some big dealer thought she was cute and she got tangled up with him, started living in his flat at the Hotel Rexford. Well he got killed for using his product more than selling it and the debt fell to her. She didn't know he was charging all those years. All of it. The room, the product, everything." She explained, and could tell he was starting to understand.

"So Nick found her on a job, in that shithole. He saved her. Picked up her debt and everything, he's been fighting it with all his caps for years but its still high, Nate, you're not supposed to be able to win this kind of thing." She shuttered to think about how it generally ended.

"How highs her debt?" He inquired. This was the pin.

"Last I asked? Three thousand caps, sixty percent interest every year."

"PIPER!" He burst out. "That's not legal in the slightest."

"Says who? I don't know how things work west of here, but if you agree to it, well you're fucked. And nobody's going to dispute that."

How could he not grasp this? Where did he come from that things like this where rare?

Where ever it was, she wanted to take Nat and go there.

"Mister Valentine must be one hell of a guy." He muttered. "Alright... We'll get to Valentine later. For now, what do I have to do for Miss Perkins?"

She didn't think this was the time for a smile, but she couldn't help it. Men like this where a rare breed. Less than a day in town he had already save her. And Travis. And now he was after Ellie.

She gave him a hug, he deserved it. But the moment was ruined quickly.

The door banged and Ellie's scream rang out. They both broke away and rushed towards it. But before Nate opened it a muffled voice slid through.

"Miss Perkins? We stopped somebody at the gate for you, its all the law lets us do Ellie. I'm sorry, but we can't stop him any more than this." It was Danny.

OoOoOoO

The change in the room finally swayed his last holdout.

The raw terror that a single man from this Drug Cartel inspired gave a clear view of the stakes, this was higher than life and death. And he wouldn't need Nora to push him this time.

He quickly walked to the terror filled girl and took a knee in front of the couch to speak with her.

"Miss Perkins? How high is the payment this month?"

"Eighteen. Nick pays Eighteen percent every two months. Its what he can afford..." She choked out, never breaking her icy stair away from the wall.

"Thank god today was a new paper, Nat how many did we sell?" She desperately inquired.

"Pipe... Fifty or so." She explained watery eyed.

How could even a child have a grasp of these kinds of things when Nate didn't understand fully?

So the three of them started counting the table of caps. Nobody bothered to calculate the payment yet.

300 caps.

"No no we can't be short," Piper panicked.

Nate knew Nora was coming... Pushing him a little more, to help a little more.

He felt her the same way you felt sunlight on your skin, but cold and... and dawning. And he didn't even need to look at Nora to know what he was doing.

"Miss Perkins? What his name going to be?"

Piper looked shocked, but he knew this is what she wanted. Ellie didn't seem to hear him over her breakdown.

"Miss Perkins." He pushed again, nudging her gently.

"Finn. It'll be Finn. He always had it out for me, he'll be the one who took the job he started all this." She explained between sobs.

Now knowing the name he scooped the caps into a coffee tin and grabbed the bundle he had gotten from Vadim. The rest he would need where with Ben.

He didn't really start paying attention to his march until he was up the stands. Now down the tunnel and towards the gate which was now open again. It seemed they had fixed it at some point.

So Benjamin would be outside by now. God he had forgotten how they treated him...

He could only presume Finn was the man leaning against the statue at the center of the square like a prick. Nate steered clear for the moment, and went towards the only people in the empty streets he could see.

Getting closer he recognized Benjamin, one of those fowl cow like creatures that filled him with dread, and a drug fiend of a woman dressed in rages.

They where all comfortably seated on tires around a fire, also fueled by a tire. The Brahmin was load to the sky with guns and armor and the woman herself was as well. Ben got up to approach him.

"Nate," He exclaimed joyfully standing to greet his friend and leading him back to the fire. "This is Cricket, the woman who's caravan I signed up to guard when I left Diamond city. The first time I mean."

Not wanting to be rude he shook her hand. He recalled this woman from Ben's story, hadn't all of his coworkers died in a shootout?

"One hell of a shot, your friend. Only man who survived that trip, not the I ever worry." She explained. There it was he smiled.

"Nice to meet you." He replied pleasantly getting a toothy grin from her as she held him had a little firmer. He ended that conversation before it got any weirder.

"Ben wheres the caps we brought from Preston?"

Ben was blind struck by the suddenly of it. "What happens to your neck Nate?" He asked now looking Nate over. "And your arm, are those human?"

He didn't have time for this. "Ben I need the caps just trust me?"

"Alright..? They're right here." He pointed, grabbing the large pillowcase and handing it too him.

He was proud of his friendship with Benjamin. So strong as even to never question a request until after it was through.

Throwing the bag over his shoulder, he made for the statue where he had seen Finn, with Ben in tow.

He was a lanky yet well built bald man, a crooked frown and a clear problem with authority by the way he was eyeing the guards. He wore an old and soft leather jacket and a pair of ancient Slacks, an odd combo, with hiking boots. It was all strange.

Nate decided to sneak up and scare the love of god out of the man by just appearing, but he gave him to little credit. Before he made it all the way to him the gangsters guards where up.

"What the fuck is this?" He inquired dully as the two approached. His confidence was set.

"Ellie's payment, in full." He stated matter of factually.

"Oh, well... sorry to be the one who's gotta tell you this, but Mister Marowski would like to speak to her about the remaining balance."

Nate hadn't decided what he was gonna do now. Maybe just go along, see what this fool was made of.

Finn continued. "In his office, at Goodneighbor." He explained a little more. Now standing from the statue.

"Well, tell 'Marowski' there's a little extra. As an apology for being late, and it wont be coming off the total." He persisted.

"Well.. Mista big money," Finn explained withdrawing a large knife and banishing it in the air. "That its no longer a matter of money, its a matter of appeasement." He explained with a big smile.

'Ahh so this is what hes about..' Nate thought.

Looking back didn't know if he was just odd and everybody else would be afraid of a mob enforcer with a big knife, but he wasn't amused. He would need force. This needed to be put to rest for now so he could move on to retreating the detective.

Not too much force though. He didn't need a target on his back, he needed this guy to go home. And if he had to go home, he couldn't go empty handed. So he would have to take the money.

With out any idea of how to proceed to get his desired end, Nate left the floor open to Ben, and it seemed Ben was ahead of him.

Quickly walking by he snatched the pillowcase and, without breaking his stride, swung the bag of tin over his head and pounding Finn over the back.

Once again Nate was proud of his friendship, that Ben could read him and his intent so well after all these years and follow and order never even given. And Nate had to grin, Ben understood how to send a clear message.

"Fuck, what was that." He demanded on his hands and knees

He reached for his gun, clearly focused on Ben now, but Nate drew faster.

Ben stepped back and Nate got lower to continue his conversation. It was time for this part of his day to end.

'Let one hand would show force, and the other show mercy. who said that',he thought. 'Maybe somebody in the bible.'

"So," He started, pouring Pipers caps into the pillow case, filling it all the way. In total it was probably around 700 caps, "This," He gestured to the bag, slowly handing it to the now careful gangster. "Is Ellie's payment. With extra to BEG, Mister Morowski's forgiveness. And tell him the extra wont even come off the total."

"And this," He spoke holding up Vedim's caps. "Is for you Finn. As a thank you for coming all this way for Ellie's caps. And to remember to tell him all the things I just said. Understand?" He finished, confident that this would work.

Bastard that he was, he took a few moments to respond. Probably thinking for any way he could win this. But he settled. Like a smart man, Nate though smugly.

"Okay..." He whispered, grabbing the bag and standing to walk away. "Morowski might not go for this you know! He'll just send somebody after me," He yelled a few feet away now. "And again after that! And I sure as FUCK wont forget this!" He hollered.

Both Ben and himself ignored the idle threats, moving on with there day which, at the moment, meant Ben demanding answers. So Nate explained the last 15 hours briefly. By the time he finished with the story Ben was well... Angry?

"Damn it Nate!"

OoOoOoO

"Do you think he's alright?" Nat wondered aloud.

Her sister was nervous, she could tell. It wasn't helping her own anxiety either, so once again she asked Nat to stuff it and allow the silence to return.

It only lasted a few minutes before Ellie chimed in as well.

"Maybe they just took him, and they'll come back for me." She whispered.

She had only spoke mournfully or morosely for the whole of the few hours she had been with them, and it had only gotten worse since Nate left. Or was it better because she was talking again?

"Don't think like that Ellie," She chimed hopefully. "You weren't at the dugout last night, nobody's gonna be able to take Nate. This will all blow over and you'll be fine."

"God Piper, think you trust that STRANGER enough. How do we know he didn't just take the caps an-" She cut her sister off with a slap across the thigh, it did the trick. She didn't need Ellie thinking like Natalie.

But there was no explanation for why she trusted Nate so fully; maybe it was trauma. Or maybe it was because, even in the short time she had known him, he had never failed to show goodness, to help another person, he just had never failed. Or maybe he reminded her of Papa...

But she knew in all honesty she was purposefully forgetting the bad.

Not stopping when he had already beat Gouger, Shooting Takahashi and flat out lying to the guard.

He had some kind of Charisma to him; maybe that was just the beard though. She liked beards... Her father had had one she remembered.

The owner of said beard burst through the door shattering any further inquirings. How long had she been thinking like that?

"Its settled for now," He announced swiftly, bee lining for his gear on the side of the couch.

Everybody in the room let out a sigh and Ellie shot up instantly, Nate stopped in his tracks.

He was probably startled by, what he had only ever seen as a depressed, sluggish and terrified woman's, speed. Ellie gawked at him a moment, looking for any hint of mistruth, and after finding none rushed to embrace him. It was sweet.

"Thank you, God above thank you-" She cried in the embrace, slowly turning inaudible.

It was once again showing just how terrified she had been of the consequences of this. And once again, Pipers fondness for Nate Howard grew.

He allowed the weeping woman a few moments before courteously breaking away. "You are very welcome Miss Perkins." Nate replied warmly, releasing her from the gentle hug and nudging her back to the couch.

She stepped away and stifled her tears for the time being allowing Nate to continue.

"I need to go with Benjamin to another settlement. Its apparently in the State house. Or at it... I don't know. We tried to come up with a plan for getting the detective but we just don't know enough." What the hell was a state house Piper wondered.

Nate continued. "Now Ben says that he has a friend in Goodneighbor that we're going to need. So that's where were going." He explained, stashing away his supply's into their various pockets and holsters.

"Be careful in Goodneighbor," Ellie burst out.

She was already doing better, Piper thought.

Nate fell silent as all the other three sets of eyes fell on the recently silent girl. And now with the stage she had to explain.

"It's a rancid drug den. Thieves, murderers, Fiends, and Monsters pack the place. So... Be careful." She finished more timidly than she had started.

Nate seemed to think for a moment, before engaging in this conversation.

"You're from there, right?"

"I was, yeah..."

"What else can you tell me?"

She didn't waste a moment, and began pouring out all sorts of knowledge about Goodneighbor that even Piper herself think about.

Things like where was safe and who was a legitimate business man. Where he should eat and who he shouldn't trust. How the Neighborhood Watch kept it a VERY free market, and all she knew about its leader, a ghoul who had named himself after a founding father.

"Be yourself, honest I mean, be brave and stand up for yourself and your morals. But accept everybody who hasn't wronged you. That's what he'll like. Do you understand?" She finished.

Nate had long since sat down again and listened to every word intently.

"So. I shouldn't be conformist?" He wearily confirmed, seeming confused by the inner workings of Goodneighbor. But Piper couldn't blame him.

"... I don't know what that is." Ellie replied.

"Don't worry about it, I think I understand." He pushed on

He stood up, slung his rifle over his arm and finished securing his provisions and gear.

"Thank you Ellie, for your warnings." He said warmly, standing over the girl.

She embraced him again, and he returned it. "Please bring Nick home." Whispered Ellie, overheard by Piper.

"I'll... Do my best." He promised back.

How much did Nate need the Detective? He wouldn't die just to rescue him, he needed Nick for himself too. Badly it seemed.

Nate then turned her way. "Goodbye Piper, and thank you for your hospitality and your help. Not many people would give this much, especially these days it seems." It was a warm thanks, she liked it. "I'm sure I, and Ben, will be seeing you again soon though. I still need to explore the city." He smiled.

"Thank you too. For all your help with Travis, and more for Ellie." She smiled back.

She would miss him. Even in the short time she had known him, they had become friends.

"Say goodbye to your sister for me, I don't know her very well."

She nodded back and with that Nate left; Off to Goodneighbor.

And... she finally made a decision. Nate Howard was a good man, and she would trust him.

OoOoOoOoO

Boston was a ruin.

No. Worse.

Was a shrine to the failure of his world.

Of his people. His peoples way of thinking. Of Capitalism and Communism, of every soldier and mother and father and child and man and woman in the entire world. Of everybody and everything he had ever believed in or hated. All of it was gone by their own doing.

So where did that leave him?

They crept silently though the streets of the now ancient city that was once so grand. A shining pinnacle of modern society, no worse than rubble.

Nate knew the way by street, but Ben was leading, for only he had been here in the last two century's, and that was a lot of time for change. He he would know where the buildings had fallen, where the mutants nested, where the raiders camped.

They had just left the farthest edge of Diamond cities guards Patrols. Ben said it was now completely neutral; and that the city was infinitely more dangerous than the wastes.

"Things are spread out in the wastes", he said.

"They are far apart and chopped up by geography. Its harsher and most threats parish to animals that are so rarely seen. Robots, people, small animals all die in the wastes. But in the ruins of Boston, and any town really, every nook and cranny could and usually does have something sleeping in it."

Whole buildings where raider havens, animals and ghouls crawled into every damp ruin and exposed sewer. Supermutants set up forts and old robots still wandered.

And Nate couldn't hear a peep from any of them.

Just the metallic groan of the ancient ruins towering over them. Swaying in the wind.

They seemed dying to him, they moaned in the heat of the day. Falling apart and waiting to crumbled under their own weight. Their builders long since abandoning their repair, leaving the thirty story ruins to fall one day. They seemed, to him, the last standing monuments to the engineering, power, might, and pride of a once great people.

Their people.

And that power and pride was their own downfall.

Even Bostons infrastructure was nearly gone, he came to realize that as they moved deeper into the ruins.

The pavement was splitting with large gaps of sun baked earth blistering and rising like dough between the cracks. The fallen towers had taken entire streets in a strange domino effect, reducing the once glorious skyline and the roads to a grand maze.

Massive fissures had split open in the streets as small rivers flowed through the bottom towards the sea. Sand and debris piled up against every surface, building massive junk piles.

The incline of the city's axis now went east, upwards as you got closer to the ocean, maybe making a sandy cliff of sorts at the ocean. How badly had they damaged their world that the whole city would shift like this?

Carefully they navigated these traps and more, silently and keeping close to the walls. They eventually came across a large street, five lanes each side. Interstate 90.

It was exposed and cleared of all cars and cover, unlike any other road in the city that Nate had seen. It was barren save a large wall of stacked cars splitting it across.

Ben explained that this was a trap, raiders had clear the cars and cover to pick off people who tried to cross. But mayor Hancock had ordered cover to be rebuilt every time it was removed so that traders and travelers could cross the kill zone and move to the north side.

Moving behind the rusted metal wall they began to cross. Nate glanced through the gaps between to see if he could spot them.

Sure enough, on buildings down the road, he could see the raiders undefined forms walking all along the roof tops. He was sure they could hit them from there with a rifle and enough practice.

Across now, they didn't speak again for a long while leaving Nate to think.

On the silent walk he saw sadness. So much sadness. but little gems shined in the dust too.

A cafe he remembered driving past was still standing, and still the yellow it had once been, all be it faded. He spotted the top of the Boston Public Library, the wealth of his generations knowledge could have survived inside. And a mayor that kept people safe, that was nice to hear.

"Ben?"

"Yeah?" He replied.

"Do you ever wonder... If maybe we should have died? Gone out with our world..?"

Ben never replied, he never stopped walking. And now Nate knew he was playing catch up.

Ben had thought all these things before. And he couldn't help Nate to his answer.

They had been walking for another hour when finally Ben spoke again.

"We're coming up on Swan Pond, Nate. But there's no complete safe way around it. Be more silent then you have ever been." He explained. A dark edge to his voice. It was fear, no, nervousness.

"You mean the commons?" He asked. They where close to that he thought, but 'Swans Pond' must have been new.

"No... Swan's pond." He stated again, gravely.

"... Are you going to explain that?" Nate asked after another few moments of silence.

Benjamin thought for a moment. "No. I'll show you."

And so they marched on, and it seemed to Nate that Ben slightly altered their course; they veered to the right, towards the southern side of the commons that were only a few blocks away.

And the closer they silently approached the more Nate noticed, the more the buildings degraded with massive holes. The more the cars where flipped or tossed up against buildings or lodged in walls or on roofs, and the more signs of warning he saw.

And it was all increasing towards an epicenter. More and more signs of violence.

Bones increases as they crept. Cows, humans, larger sets like mutants, odd structures he couldn't place. What might they have looked like before death? And what killed them all nondiscriminatory?

Before it was in sight and before they could see even a single thing, a monstrous roar echoed through the ruins. It boomed with such force that he briefly though about ducking down from a surly following blast.

But the echoes through the silent ruins continued with bullet fire, something was fighting down the road, and Nate was sure this was what Ben wanted so show him.

But before he ventured further down the road his friend grabbed and tore him into blown out mom and pop.

Looking to his friend he found wild eyes looking back. He was trying to hold back rabid fear. What had made a noise like? What did Benjamin know about, down that road a few more yards?

He had to know, he had to see the danger for himself. he had to understand what terrified one of the bravest men he had ever known.

This was a Boston building, he thought looking around his new environment. Which meant Store on the bottom, apartments up the next few floors. So without regard for the dangers that had a few minutes ago kept him weary towards exploration, he searched for the stairs.

He found them, and they where soft and old, damp cardboard more like. But they held him to the next, and cautiously to the next until he was on the roof. But he still couldn't see, he had only gone up.

At the edge he found a new path, and leapt to the next roof of the straight store front block. And from there he was just at the edge of the square commons.

But he was nervous, it was silent again. So many guns now silent. How had that many armed men just gone quiet? And for what?

Slowly he moved up to the ledge farthest from the collapsed corner of the roof, but stopped, he was scared...

Ben's hand steadied him, and with that he could peer over to see the battle bellow.

 _"Rarely, a super-mutant (whether though biology, added mutations, or some other variable entirely)_ _has and have had the aptitude to mutate even further in the process of being created. A Super mutant can, at some rare times, become a Super Mutant '_ _Behemoth'. A grotesque bastardization of the human form taken too far; growing to thirty feet tall and gaining the massive musculature to support it, leading to an unknown limit of strength and destructive power."_

Nate hadn't been able to picture the creature from the safety of his house. And he hadn't thought about it again, the Deathclaw was the glass roof of his nightmares, but it seemed he was wrong, it could still go up.

And after finally seeing a super mutant for the first time, hadn't thought to try and imagine that.

Pictures like this where rare, even in Nate's life.

Below, across a street, lay a grave yard.

Thousands had died here, he knew that just by looking. The commons where practically white and brown with bone and blood, yet nothing grew in the decay. It was as if the plant life itself weren't safe.

The bodies where endless, no five square feet where free of loss of life.

They lied in the streets, at the foot of builds, smashed by cars. Men, women, children, animals and mutants alike all lay in piles, tossed aside and broken. Nothing looted, nothing taken, no reason and too many to have just walked through.

It hunted them, killed them in its rage like a child smashes ants.

He could see the scene, this group must not have known. They where scattered and shot at it, it must not have worked, nothing these people tried must have worked, because the grave yard kept growing.

And while beholding the carnage, the wreckage of life, he spotted the last survivor. She was too young to hold a gun, and she was trying to hide.

But the beast, the monster that horrid creature of hate, it wouldn't stop looking. It wouldn't let even one go, worse than an animal it had to kill, it wanted to.

She ran, and he wanted to sprint down the stairs, to grab her up and run and save her from it. But it lumbered along, and its stalking came to fruit, it found her, hiding amid the ruins of a gazebo.

She screamed and his heart dropped.

It raised an anchor with enormous strength, breaking yelp from Nate's throat, he reached for his rifle, maybe he could distract, give her a chance, but Ben lunged to cover it.

He wrestled with his friend but lost, and was wrenched down to the rooftop as the furyful mutant let out a eruption. Nate wrestled, begged to be let go, to be given a chance to save her.

But Ben held him down screaming that he couldn't, that Shaun needed them, that they would die.

The earth shook amidst the fighting, the impact bellowing across the air, over and over the buildings might was tested by the power of Swans outbursts. Fueled by a hate beyond any mans perspective, he reduced the girl to dust as Nate fought the hold.

Ben let him loose, and Nate knew he saved them both before he had taken the shot.

OoOoOoOoO

"Nate, we have to go. Swan will come. He'll find us like that little girl and he'll bring this whole block down to kill us." He pleaded. Nate couldn't get them killed here. He needed to get them out.

But his friend just sat against the rim of the roof in a pile, he was covering his tears. Barley a week and he had seen the nightmares that never left. More added to the pile, more to keep him up when he already couldn't sleep a night. Another face to haunt him.

He couldn't have saved her, but how could he explain that to a father? That that little girls father had lead her to death, that not every little girl could be saved? How could he tell all this to him while he was trying to do was save a child?

And that he didn't know if they could save his nephew. He had looked for two years, never found a trace and now the trail was colder than ice, what difference could Nate make in the search for his child?

But how could he tell him it was pointless, that this world was all he had.

How would Nate survive if they couldn't save Shaun. How could he tell Nate, today and later on...

That some kids can't be saved.

And some monsters can't be killed.

* * *

 **I have the biggest stack of unfinished chapters and other story's, but I figured I needed to get one out soon. 5 Months is a long time.**

 **Feel free to leave a review and follow. I appreciate it more than you'd** **think. Hope everybodys surviving Corona, as it turns out I have less time to write now than before.**

 **-WhiskyFalls**


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